


Am I Worthy of Love (Yet?)

by embarrassingresultofmyfreetime



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: I wrote this to survive the holidays, Lots of plot, basically Missy realizes she leads to her own self destruction after 'dying' in canon, disclaimer i havent seen EVERY episode of Doctor Who so I apologize for any inaccuracies, endgame is Missy and 13, missy redemption arc kinda?, slowburn, so she tries to be better but messes it up anyways lol, this got way longer than I was ever prepared to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-01 20:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17250647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime/pseuds/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime
Summary: With merciless bounty hunters suddenly arriving in Sheffield, The Doctor is prepared to do whatever it takes to protect those she cares about.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Myself for surviving the holidays](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Myself+for+surviving+the+holidays).



> Please read "/" as italics (I'll try to fix that soon)  
> Please read "-" as a break in scene, cut to another scene, or time gap
> 
> Can Ignore:  
> Lot of plot and character arcs, mainly: The Doctor being a little darker than usual and willing to do whatever she can to protect the people she cares about (as long as it still aligns with their morals), and also Missy who is trying to learn how to be better after realizing that she becomes her own self destruction after the ending in Death in Heaven  
> No prior knowledge needed tho  
> *Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any part of the show 'Doctor Who'. This is simply a work of fiction for the enjoyment of myself and others bc I heard DW might not come back until 2020 and tbh that's rediculous.*  
> (Also I'm so sorry my spelling is really bad please forgive me)

Ryan awoke to a start as the loud roar of a large engine sent a ship racing through the street not far from his bedroom window. The noise nearly rattled the windows of every building within sight and several car alarms blared at the night in warning of a danger already past.  
Heart racing, the young man quickly leapt up from his bed. He reached for a jacket and pulled it on as he stumbled into his shoes, racing for the door. By the time he reached the sidewalk, the ship was already far off from view, but it's hum stayed constant until almost a full minute later. He could see other lights from other homes flick on as old and young alike searched for the cause of the noise.  
Almost as if in response, the ship suddenly raced up that same road. Several people began to panic as the enormous ship flew, barreling towards them. They shouted warnings as they raced back into their homes, fearing the worst.  
Ryan only stood in silence as he watched the ship race past again down the center of the street. This time, he discovered that the spacecraft scanned over every building as it passed. A lazer-focused area of light seemed to scan over the area, almost like a spotlight searching for someone.  
He carefully observed the ship as it passed. The entire incident was over in less than a minute, with no explanation in sight. As he watched the ship quickly hurry back up the hill to his right. As quickly as it began, the bright light turned off and it almost looked as if the ship had given up on its search in their area.  
One other person was standing still, staring up at the sky without a hint of fear. The behavior caught Ryan's eye but before he could get a good look, he realized that someone was approaching him.  
In all the commotion, Ryan suddenly realized he hadn't seen Yaz leave her building and bolt towards him. It was only when she had almost reached him that Ryan tore his attention from the spacecraft.  
"What happened?" She asked, waiting impatiently for every detail.  
Ryan shrugged, words taking a moment to reach his mouth.  
"Ya saw about as much as me. What do ya think they want?" He replied, his hands in his pockets as the strong wind created from the ship's movement subsided.  
"I don't know. It almost seemed as though they were looking for something." Yaz replied, her mind clearly racing for as many explanations as she could possibly think of.  
"Maybe," Ryan shrugged,  
"But what could that ship be in such a rush to find?"  
-

"I still can't believe those nice folk thought they could beat me in a game of dimension darts!"  
The Doctor chuckled to herself as she raced around the still-new console of her Tardis.  
"They bet their whole tabs I couldn't beat them!"  
She clicked a few switches into place and then hurried over to the opposite side to crank a small wheel. She moved to a keypad of glowing buttons and quickly tapped several of them.  
"Well bad news for them, good news for everyone else at the pub. I bet a round of drinks for everyone in the room!"  
She grinned for short moment before turning her attention to a small noise the monitor was making.  
She reached for the screen and spun it around for a good look.  
"What?" She wondered aloud. She leaned in closer for a better look, her nose scrunching as she did so.  
The screen showed amateur footage caught on a mobile. The person filming the scene was standing on the ground, camera pointed to the sky to capture a reasonably-sized spaceship fly overhead. It barely fit in between the buildings of a wide road and was even longer than it was wide. It was nearly as long as the front of an apartment complex it was shown flying in front of.  
The Doctor immediately recognized the location.  
"If that's the kind of ship I think it is then I'm going to be extremely cross with whoever is flying it!"  
-

The Doctor stepped out of her Tardis and closed the door in a single movement before quickly picking up the pace.  
Her strides were confident and her focus didn't stray for one second as she made her way to the apartment building before her.  
She knew she was in her own head but she couldn't step back from it. She didn't acknowledge the cool, gentle breeze that tossed her hair and edges of her coat, nor did she notice the laughter of a nearby family talking as they headed into town.  
The only thoughts that filled her mind were cold calculations, never factoring in any scenario in which the owners of that spaceship stayed on Earth for most than the next 24 hours.  
"Doctor!"  
The Doctor could hear the pleasantly surprised greeting but she couldn't change gears fast enough to avoid her companion picking up that something was wrong.  
"Doctor?"  
The Doctor looked up, this time with a bright, cheerful smile. There was no use in panicking her friend. Maybe the ship didn't belong to who she thought it did. There could be hundreds of reasons for her to have assumed wrong.  
"Yaz! Hello!"  
Yas was holding two grocery bags, one in either hand. She had clearly just returned from the store.  
"I knew you'd return soon!" Yaz beamed. "Did you hear about the spaceship?" She asked excitedly.  
The Doctor opened the door to the apartment complex and held it open for her friend. She then followed through the door behind her.  
"Yes," The Doctor replied, mind processing through the limited information she had about the craft.  
"That ship had a very big, very _specific_ symbol on it. The footage I saw was blurry so I need to find out if it's current users are part of the group the symbol corresponds to."  
"You mean the white triangle inside the star with the crescent through it?" Yaz confirmed.  
The pair started up the stairs and The Doctor leapt ahead of her friend. She walked backwards up the stairs as to address her friend head-on.  
"Yes! Now, it's possible that- in this case- the symbol means nothing. The video was too blurry for me to get a proper look! That ship could have been stolen, reconstructed from scrap, sold to another party, or crashed and was fixed up for a new purpose. For all I know- that symbol could mean something completely different in another part of the galaxy or could have simply changed meanings." The Doctor explained energetically.  
"Don't want to get your hopes up in case it's someone you know?" Yaz chuckled, cracking a smile.  
"Something like that." The Doctor replied, the smile fading from her lips as she turned away to continue up the stairs.  
The Doctor opened another door and lead them onto the floor where Yaz and her family lived. Evening sunlight streamed in through the large windows to their right and projected at a steep angle along the parallel wall.  
"So how are you going to find out who it is?"  
"How do you find anything out? I'm going to ask them!"  
The Doctor's face suddenly broke out into a wide grin.  
"Tell Ryan and Graham and meet me back in the Tardis, yeah? I'll explain everything better then."  
Yaz looked down to find her keys, nearly dropping one of her bags as she tried to pull her keys from her pocket. The Doctor swooped in and suddenly she was holding one of the bags and was unlocking the door, a la sonic screwdriver.  
"Can't drop the eggs!" The Doctor grinned widely. She gently pushed the door open for her friend and then, in the blink of an eye, Yaz was holding both bags again and The Doctor was sprinting away.  
"Thanks!" The Doctor called back to Yaz, already sprinting back towards the staircase.  
Yaz rolled her eyes but a smile spread across her lips anyways.  
-

"Alright! We're here!" Yaz announced as she, Ryan, and Graham entered through the Tardis doors.  
The Doctor was sitting on the ground before the console surrounded by dozens of tiny pieces of machinery. In her hand was a large remote-like block with two different gauges, each ranging from zero to one hundred. Something in it sparked as the Doctor looked up with a smile.  
"Hello everyone!"  
Graham was the first to respond, having a decent grip on the usual pattern of events by now.  
"So what are we up against, Doc? I don't suppose that supersonic spaceship was racing down the street for a thrill ride, was it?"  
The Doctor swept up the small pieces into one hand and then clutched the metal contraption tightly in the other. She lept up from the ground and let the unused parts fall from her hand into a small dip in the console.  
"I highly doubt it. But the easiest way to clear up any misunderstanding is to talk- so that's exactly what we're gonna do."  
She handed the remote off to Ryan, who was closest to her, and then hurried deeper into the Tardis in search of something else. Ryan was surprised by how heavy the box was but didn't let it fall through his fingers.  
"Ya want us t' just ask?" Ryan clarified, looking over the bulky device in his hands.  
The Doctor returned holding a bulky machine in her arms.  
"Why? Do you have a better idea?"  
The majority of it looked like a folded tripod, but on top sat a large dome with several antennae sticking out in several different directions.  
"No." Ryan paused. "So what do you need us to do?"  
Ryan looked down at the machine in his hands, ready to be directed.  
The Doctor hesitated. She gently set down the equipment and leaned it against the nearby railing.  
"Thing is... I don't actually need you to do anything."  
Ryan glanced up and then over to his two other friends on either side of him.  
He passed the remote over to Yaz.  
"No it's- it's not like that," The Doctor chuckled with a fading smile.  
"I actually don't need any of your help. Thing is-"  
The Doctor sighed.  
"Let me start from the beginning."  
She waved her friends over to the monitor on the Tardis console. The screen pulled up the amateur footage of the spaceship the Doctor had viewed before. It paused it so they had a fuzzy view of the side of the ship.  
"That symbol there," The Doctor pointed to the screen. On the ship was a five-pointed star outline with a crescent moon through it at an angle and a small triangle in the center, "It represents a group of... well suffice it to say, private bounty hunters. You know how, on Earth, bounty hunters are sometimes seen as anti-heroes who catch criminals and turn them in for payment?"  
The trio nodded, they faced showing clear concern as to where the explanation was going.  
"Well, that symbol," she gestured to the screen, "represents a group called the Edict of Emdaber. Wow, that's rather difficult to say in English." She rubbed her jaw for a brief second.  
"Its members act almost identical to bounty hunters except they're _much_ worse. Their group is more of a cult than anything else. They're all self-run. They act under _no_ legal authority. And they only believe in their own version of justice. These hunters can be people of any species and no one knows where they come from or how many of them there are. The only thing they have in common is a small device hooked around their ear that is connected to a chip in their head. Their ships contain constantly updating lists on the crimes people have committed and how much those in charge will pay for their capture."  
She put her left hand in her pocket and leaned her right forearm above her head and against the large cylinder at the center of the room. Her eyes lost focus, suddenly deep in thought.  
"They show up without warning and the people they take are never seen or heard from again. They'll take anyone even under suspicion because they believe it is better to be safe than sorry."  
After a moment she stepped away again and turned to address her friends, her disposition much less chipper than usual.  
"I'm sorry I put you in this situation but I want you three to stay with me until this is resolved. If they scan you they may see you as an unauthorized time traveler and add you to their lists of criminals. If they take you from the Earth I may never be able to find you again."  
Her words seemed to linger in the air. It felt as if she was telling them that they were in danger because of her and the least she could do was protect them until they understood more. All of them seemed to know it, but only Yaz admitted it out loud.  
"It's not your fault, Doctor."  
Yaz's words were wholehearted and genuine.  
The Doctor glanced up at her and attempted a small smile but her eyes quickly fell away.  
"Doctor?" Ryan shifted gears. "That ship flew directly down our street! It scanned everything within sight! If it didn't take us then, maybe we're safe."  
"No." The Doctor replied firmly.  
She turned back to the Tardis console and began flipping switches and pulling levers.  
"They could have already picked up on the energy you've been exposed to in the time vortex. It would be more likely that they're after someone worth more to the higher-ups."  
Her energy seemed to be pulled back into her as she turned a row of dials extremely quickly.  
"It would have to be someone who has visited this area in the last few months- enough time for the bounty hunters to narrow their search down to this area. And they brought a ship that big, meaning they brought a lot of equipment- so it must be someone strong." She froze mid-turn of a dial.  
"Someone very strong or... someone very clever. And they haven't made any demands. It's not really their style anyway, they usually just snatch people in the dark of night; but they've made themselves public. They must be getting desperate and know that whoever they're hunting will have to make a move now that the hunters getting so close...."  
"Do you know who it could be?" Yaz asked.  
The Doctor suddenly smiled again.  
"What I do know is that we need to hide the Tardis."  
She pulled a large lever and the lights completely turned off. For a moment everything was completely dark. As their eyes adjusted, there was a very low light that streamed in through the front windows.  
"Ryan, that's my arm." The Doctor said flatly.  
"Oh sorry! I was trying to find the railing."  
"And... that's my hand." The Doctor continued.  
"That one's my bad." Yaz replied this time.  
".... so can you let go?"  
After a few seconds, dimmer blue and red lights began to fill the room. As they did, the Doctor turned away and picked up the tall contraption she had been holding before, and then took the large box-like device from Yaz. The Doctor tucked it under one arm before sprinting towards the front door, as if the bulk gear weighed nothing.  
"Well come on then! Lots to do!"  
-

The Doctor hurried out of the Tardis and into the evening air. They now stood on top of a nearby office building with a beautiful view of the pending sunset on the horizon.  
"I didn't want to do this too close to your homes." The Doctor explained. She began to set up the equipment and ran back through the small group of companions as they exited through the Tardis doorway.  
The Doctor plugged some large cords into the Tardis and then hurried back outside to set up the rest of the machine.  
"So what did you do to the Tardis?" Ryan jabbed a thumb at the blue box standing just a few feet behind them.  
"Powered it down a bit, makes it much more difficult for the Edict of Emdaber to track down. Edict... of Emdaber...." She said slowly, she distracted herself as she tested the word on her tongue once more. She quickly shook the distracting thought from her head and resumed her work, "The Tardis is in power saving mode if you will. We don't want them getting their hands on her. The Edict believes it's their job to maintain peace by stopping those they feel are unworthy to live in modern society."  
The Doctor shook her head slightly as she tweaked the large box with the gauges. "Peace at any cost sounds good in theory, but they have no real code of ethics. The ends can't always justify the means, especially when it so easily involves the conviction of innocents."  
She finally looked up at her friends again.  
"That's why I'm so worried about you three being in danger. I doubt you'd be worth much to them- no offense?" She glanced up at them from the wires she was twisting together, "-but I don't want to take that chance. We need to find out exactly who they want."  
"Can we help at all?" Graham asked generously.  
The Doctor smiled. "Thank you, but no. I just need to change the output to a specific charge that will register on their ships. I should be done shortly. Just try to make yourselves comfortable."  
Graham gave a polite nod and then stepped away. He and Ryan headed towards the front of the building and talked as the sun slowly drifted towards the horizon.  
Yaz hesitated and after a moment, decided to stay with The Doctor. She lowered herself down to the ground next to where the Doctor was working, sitting within her view.  
"Do you think this Edict group might be after _you_?"  
Yaz asked carefully.  
If the Doctor was surprised by the question she didn't show it. She didn't even respond at first- so Yaz continued,  
"I heard what you were saying about the Edict of Emdaber tracking someone down who has been here recently. Someone clever. Someone who will have to make a move now that they know those bounty hunters are here." She nodded up to the sky, "That kind of sounds like you."  
Still no response.  
"I'm a police officer, I can pick up on these things a little better than most."  
The Doctor glanced over to see Yaz staring back with a warm smile, but the Doctor's shielded her emotions and expressed nothing.  
She turned her attention back to stripping a piece of wire but finally spoke,  
"One time I went to a planet called Yegdavan in the system of Gustaberous. The year wasn't far from this one. It's a beautiful place- gorgeous forests and more greenery than the Earth has ever had. It's homed to many very humble and very wonderful people. I first visited after hearing terrible stories of a disease sparking up on the planet. According to these stories, the disease drained people of their energy while they slept and took several months to recover from- if they recovered at all. It turns out, it wasn't a disease at all- but a creature who had crashed landed on the planet in a small town. You see, this creature normally fed off the electrical waves generated from the shifting magnetic field of its home planet; but Yagdavan didn't have a strong enough magnetic field for the creature to feed off of, so it turned to a different source. It began absorbing electrical pulses generated by the nervous system in living creatures just to sustain itself. I caught a glimpse of the creature myself and knew I had to find it so I could return it to its homeworld. On my search, I came across a young man who wanted to help protect his neighbors and family. He insisted on joining me and _I let_ him. We found where the creature was hiding, but he rushed ahead. When I finally caught up, I watched him stare down one of these same bounty hunters who have now come to Earth. The hunter said the stranded creature was guilty of numerous assaults, permanent damage, and death. The bounty hunter then mistook my friend for being an associate of the lost creature. Never even second guessing it, the hunter took them both and I never saw them again."  
The Doctor took a breath to calm her building anger.  
"The hunter never gave either of them a chance to explain. They weren't even criminals. Just someone lost and scared and another only trying to help."  
Yaz was stunned by this.  
"I'm so sorry.... Is there-"  
"They're dead. I'm sure of it." The Doctor abruptly turned to Yaz, her voice suddenly filled with confidence.  
"But in short, yes. I do think there may be a possibility that they're after me, but it's a chance I'm willing to take to save whoever's next. No one is going to die today. Not if I have anything to say about it!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finds someone she thought she'd lost.

"The Doctor tells us that these bounty hunters are incredably dangerous and that even she has no idea where the people they take end up- and yet she wants to call them directly to us?" Graham said quietly, disbelief in his voice.  
Ryan turned to him with total confidence.  
"I'm sure the Doctor knows what she's doing. She hasn't done us wrong yet and I doubt she'll start now. I trust 'er."  
Graham looked out over the edge of the building. From the roof, they could see most of the city. Ahead of them was a long main road leading towards the sunset but somehow, neither of them noticed it. They instead looked over to their house, just a small block nearly hidden in a sea of much taller shapes. They knew where it should be from it's distance from the water but it seemed so small; as if it couldn't possibly be their house from so far away.  
As the Doctor worked, the day fell away into night and the sun soon shown only red and orange across the building sides that faced it. The shadows seemed to move so slow yet it took all of a few minutes to complete.  
Ryan's eyes caught the attention of all the cars and busses that passed beneith them. People had seen an alien ship flying across their hometown only last night and yet they carried on as usual, just another Saturday.  
"I wish we'd brought food." Ryan noted, the scent of a nearby foodcart wafting up to taunt them. He looked down over the edge in search of the wonderful smell's source.  
"I think I still have a sandwhich in the Tardis." Graham suddenly realized.  
"I bet the other's are hungry too. I'll go get it and we can split it four ways, eh?"  
Ryan chuckled as his granddad hurried back towards the Tardis.  
As Ryan waited, he continued to watch as people hurried home on the street below. It wasn't long before his eyes caught onto someone who was breaking the pattern. The figure below was walking confidently but not in any particular direction. They passed the area below several times before returning yet again. It was difficult to be sure from so far away, but the figure seemed to be a woman. The way she walked made Ryan think the figure was wearing heels rather than something more comfortable.  
There was something about her that made Ryan realize he had seen her before. It must have been the unique purple color that gave it away.  
He had seen her the night the spaceship flew down his street. She had been the one other person who didn't seem stunned or scared at the idea of a huge alien spaceship flying across Sheffield.  
There had been numerous stories about spaceships in London, but Sheffield was a different story.  
Ryan had seen things like this before, but if someone else acted similarly then... what was it she had seen?  
-

Graham returned with a small lunch box and took out a sandwhich.  
"You all must be hungry. I stashed some snacks in case something like this happened. It's not much but at least it's something."  
The promise of food, even school-packed-lunch-level-food, was enough to grab Ryan's attention. He turned away and by the time he looked back over the edge of the building the woman was gone. He wished the lady well and hoped that she wasn't the target of these hunters- even as arbitrary as it may seem to do so- and then joined his friends.  
They sat in a small circle near the Doctor and split up the sandwhich, a fruit cup, and a bag of crisps.  
"There's some for you too, Doctor." Graham offered. "You could do for a break anyhow."  
The Doctor seemed almost a little surprised by this as she looked from her friends to the remaining fourth of a sandwhich.  
"I couldn't...."  
"We aren't very well going to split it 3 ways now are we? Plus we 'aven't seen you eat all day! You must be hungry by now."  
The Doctor hesitated for another second before setting down her tools and moving over to sit closer to them.  
"That's very kind of you." She said with a nod, her words so direct and sincere that it made her companions wonder when the last time anyone offered her anything out of kindness was.  
She seemed to be able to rest, if only for a minute, in the company of her friends, her Tardis, and the beautiful view of the Sun from Earth.  
-

"Alright, it's ready!" The Doctor announced, pushing down a large handle until it snapped into place. The small dome that sat on top of the triangle of legs came alive and turned a bright blue upon activation.  
The Doctor turned a few knobs on the large black box in her hands but Yaz noted that even though the device behind them was turned on, neither of the guages moved up from zero.  
The timelord didn't seem to mind this and set the box down on the floor at the edge of the roof so that she could easily see the dials from where she stood.  
"That dome will send out a signal similar to one that would send out from an alien spacecraft. They'll be here on seconds."  
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Yaz asked with concern.  
The Doctor shot her a soft but confident smile.  
"Trust me."  
With that, the time traveler turned to the open air and shouted out into it.  
"Come on, I'm right here! Tell me what you came here for!"  
As predicted, they soon spotted the ship speeding towards them through the darkening night sky.  
As the ship neared them, the Doctor pulled her sonic screwdriver from her picket and activated it. The top lit up brightly and the Tardis lights began to dimly illuminate it's interior once more.  
The large ship slowed to hover before the Doctor, the large symbol on either side shining a bright white clear as day.  
The Doctor waited a moment as the ship settled into place. Yaz noticed the guage on the left side of the box in front of the time lord begin to increase. By the time the Doctor spoke the guage was already at 7.  
"Why hello there!" She greeted them chipperly.  
There was no response from the ship as she continued.  
"My name is the Doctor. Am I right to assume that the Edict of Emdaber sent you here, to this city, to Earth?"  
The only response was a bright light that swept across the rooftop. Ryan knew it must be a scan of some sort, like the ship had scanned his street the night before.  
After a few seconds, The Doctor added more firmly,  
"I'd like to know who you're searching for."  
"Standard time travelers." The ship replied, it's speakers blasting the reply as if it was an announcement. The sound echoed loudly against the roof, "No detected causes of time desturbance. You are not our target."  
The Doctor stepped forwards,  
"Maybe we can help you find your target. Tell us; who are you searching for?"  
"Scan analysis complete. The target is not here."  
The ship slowly shifted from it's hovering state and turned away. Its engines whirled back to life with great force.  
The Doctor held out one hand.  
"Wait! Just tell us what you want! Who you want!"  
But the craft's light simply passed over her and the ship turned away from the rooftop with increasing speeds. The hoverjets grew louder as the ship hurried away into the night.  
The Doctor let out a disgruntled groan.  
A new voice suddenly spoke from the far edge of the rooftop. It belonged to a single person, their voice mellifluous with a strong undertone of amusement.  
"Why thank you, darling. And here I thought they might have actually figured me out!"  
Everything happened so fast as the voice made Ryan take a surprised step back. He stepped on a piece of pipe and nearly trip off the edge of the building.  
Luckily, the newcomer caught him. They dipped him as someone would in a dance. Ryan was stunned to find himself suspended in the air above the unforgiving pavement below.  
The doctor immediately pointed her sonic screwdriver towards the movement, her arm fully extended towards the stranger.  
"Step away from him."  
Out of the shadows, at the edge of the light, stepped a beautiful woman in a purple suit with a black lace trim.  
She pulled Ryan back to his feet and gave him a warm but devilish smile before turning to the Doctor.  
The woman stepped slowly towards the time traveler. Her style was a dated, but somewhat modern look. Her long wide leg pants could almost be mistaken for a long skirt that rested above her hips. A tailored suit jacket rested over a plain buttondown shirt that was tucked in. The jacket was purple with thin black outlining on the edges of the lapels. A small, flat, decorative hat sat slanted over an enormous bun of dark-brown curls. Her cheekbones were strong and even her dark eyeshadow and lipstick matched her attire. Every thing about her was dripping with confidence. The final piece was a long, thin black umbrella with a hooked handle grasped firmly in her hand.  
"Don't tell me you could possibly forget little old me."  
She pouted as if upset but the melodramatic strength of the gesture took away from its authenticity.  
"You... I've seen you before...." Ryan realized with great confusion.  
The woman didn't miss a beat. She dropped her arms to her sides and sighed as if disappointed. She swung her umbrella until its long metal tip pointed directly at the three companions.  
"Still keeping pets I see." She teased with mild disapproval. "They're a little clumsier than usual, aren't they?"  
The woman tossed her hands up in a shrug, answering her own question, "But I suppose you did spring for a variety pack this time so I'll let it go."  
The Doctor didn't lower her screwdriver.  
"Don't talk about them like that. They're my friends, my fam, and none of your concern." Her words were harsh and full of authority. She spoke to this stranger like she did to known murderers.  
The newcomer seemed to disregard the Doctor's words completely. She even scoffed, "Oh please. They're nothing but potential casualities. Now put that thing down. Is that anyway to welcome an old friend?"  
The stranger stepped forwards.  
"Then prove it's you." The Doctor replied flatly. Her voice was colder than she'd ever shown to her new friends before now. She wasn't sure she liked it but it was called for nonetheless.  
"Oh please-" The late arrival began, attempting to brush off the demand as if it were trivial.  
The Doctor cut her off, "That ship is looking for someone dangerous. For all I know, they could be looking for a shape-shifting criminal. Or even something that can use my own memories against me. It wouldn't be the first time- Not to mention, last time I saw you...."  
The strange woman rolled her eyes and tossed her head back in emphesis. Her movements were lose and somehow each one flowed into the next.  
"To be fair, that was just one big misunderstanding." She shook her head loosely as if changing her mind.  
"It doesn't matter. More importantly- you have a new face!"  
She stepped closer, swaying gently as she took each step. Her voice lowered as she drew near.  
"I must say, I rather like it... as well as the rest of the body."  
"Not another step." The doctor replied, unshaken and unresponsive to the flirtacious attitude.  
The woman sighed and did a lazy spin on one of her heels.  
"Alright fine. You just /had/ to kill the mood- didn't you?"  
She wondered in a slow circle around the rooftop and the Doctor followed opposite. Soon they were dancing in slow circles, as if about to square off. The Doctor still had her sonic screwdriver tight in hand.  
"How about this?"  
The dark haired woman carefully pulled off the brooch from the front of her collar. "Dark star alloy? It was a present. A symbol for me in dark times I'd... rather not discuss at the moment."  
She glared over to the trio of humans.  
The Doctor clearly wasn't convinced.  
"Even if it is real, you could have stolen it from Missy." The doctor replied flatly. Her voice remained cold. If this was simply a trick, she couldn't dare risk hoping it was real. She wasn't sure she could take it again.  
The dark haired woman perked up, grinning widely.  
"Awe, you remember my name!"  
"Last chance or I'm leaving." The Doctor stated, hand with the sonic screwdriver lowering carefully to her side.  
Missy reached out for the Doctor's free hand and slowly pulled its palm to her chest. Her voice grew lower and just a little more genuine than the persona she seemed to be using.  
"You know it's me. You're not getting rid of me that easily."  
The light of a city beamed in the beautiful, clear night air behind them. The moonlight seemed to reflect even more strongly in the doctor's eyes as they widened with disbelieve. Beneith her hand she could feel the steady pulse of a rare double heartbeat.  
"But you were dead! I felt it!" The Doctor did her best not to let her voice waver.  
Missy rolled her eyes but a soft, amused smile teased at her red lips.  
"I did- to some extent," Missy admitted. "I'm not the same me you knew exactly." She emphesized the last word and paused to gather her thoughts before continuing, "When my previous incarnation died, I was born- but as I regenerated I realized that maybe my future self may have had a point after all. Before the version you knew died, I /might/ have taken a glance at her memories. I still had to live them so I found my Tardis and escaped. I lived through every moment I had seen in my future self's memories and when I found myself back on that rediculous ship I remembered to bring a little something to survive being shot in the back."  
She chuckled faintly. "Then it was just a matter of getting up with the help of a little regenerative energy and teleporting off that hellscape."  
She rolled up one of her sleeves.  
"Cheap and nasty time travel, yet functional."  
She tilted her head with a mild shrug and then glanced at the watch-like device once more.  
The Doctor hugged her abruptly, arms tight and hearts thankful. The Doctor's arms pinned Missy's upper arms to her sides, hands falling to her old friend's back.  
Missy froze stiff, completely bemused and unable to react.  
"You hug now." She stated, her voice lacking all her usual sharpness and sarcasm.  
The Doctor leaned up to put her head over Missy's shoulder, despite the extra height Missy's heels gave her. She spoke a little quieter and with great relief from somewhere deep within.  
"You really had me! I was sure you were dead! I was sure /I/ was dead! I... I didn't want to live in a world where I was alone again."  
Missy's eyes were still wide as the Doctor pulled away. She put her sonic screwdriver back in her coat pocket and smiled widely.  
"How have you been?"  
"How have I been??" Missy replied, completely flabbergasted. "Last incarnation you barely give me an inch of leeway and now that I've almost died forever you want to hug me and ask how I've /been/??"  
She opened her mouth as if to say something more but their audience spoke up first.  
"Excuse me? Doctor?"  
"Yes, Graham?" The Doctor replied, cheerfully spinning on her heels to face the older gentleman.  
"Um, who is that?" He asked.  
He gestured over to Missy who was still too stunned to say anything more.  
The Doctor's hands fell into her side pockets as she replied happily, "Oh my apologies, fam, this is Missy! Missy, this is my fam! Graham, Yaz, and Ryan."  
They each gave a small wave as they were introduced.  
The Doctor then continued, pulling one of her hands back out of her side pocket to jab a thumb at the woman standing to her right.  
"Missy and I were childhood friends back home!"  
"Were...? So are you not anymore?" Graham clearified.  
"Er...." The Doctor looked over to Missy and then back to her companions again. She shrugged casually.  
"...I'm not really sure. She's kind of tried to kill me and the human race several times but last time I saw her she was trying to be better."  
The Doctor turned to Missy, her tone serious yet optimistic.  
"/Are you/ still trying to be better?"  
Missy seemed to find her voice again and retreated back behind her flippant facade.  
"I /was/, darling, but you're making it quite difficult to resist killing these rediculous pets you have. Not to mention, if I hadn't been here they'd self-destruct all on their own." Missy glared at Ryan, finding her dramatic vibe again.  
"Can we trust her?" Yaz asked.  
"Absolutely not!" The Doctor and Missy replied in unison, both speaking with an erily peppy tone.  
"But anyways. What are you doing back here?" The Doctor asked. "Did you really miss bothering me that much?"  
Missy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.  
"I'm not here by choice! I'm hiding out here- and I was doing a pretty good job of it until I picked up on the signal from your silly little excuse of a machine, here. I /had/ to see who could possibly be daft enough to put a neon arrow over their head in a situation like this! And who should I find but you."  
"Wait, so that means... they're after /you/?!" The Doctor exclaimed in surprise. Her bewilderment fadded in the blink of an eye and was replaced with an extremely solumn tone. Her eyes stayed out of focus and as she crossed her arms and pressed the side of one fist against her lips, deep in thought.  
Missy replied anyways.  
"Yes! They're after little old me. But who could say as to why." She gave a posh shrug, clearly playing innocent.  
If the Doctor noticed, she didn't express it.  
"You're not just hiding out here. You're stranded here." The Doctor continued to peace things together.  
"But even if you're stuck in this time and ended up in this city... then why stay? I've seen you pick pocket, there's nothing stopping you from taking a bus far from here. Plus the hunters need weeks to trace a location. Why risk staying?" She asked, puzzeled.  
Missy rolled her eyes and let a grin spread across her face.  
"And you used to call me thick! You've had /how many/ generations since you called me bone dead stupid and you can't even figure this one out."  
The Doctor didn't reply.  
Missy sighed and climbed up on the edge of the building. She stepped across the boarder in 6 inch heels as the Doctor wracked her brain in thought.  
"Um...." Ryan began, watching the odd sight unfold.  
"Miss, please get down from there." Yaz called, her instincts as a police woman kicking in. She couldn't stop herself from rushing over, prepared to catch the woman if she fell.  
The Doctor didn't seem to notice, deep in thought,  
"Sure there's been other aliens here but even you couldn't have planned our encounters with them...."  
With The Doctor's back to them, Missy glanced down at the young concerned police woman with a mocking smile.  
"Why you're rather pretty. The Doctor did always love the selfless ones."  
Missy sighed and swayed her arms to either side in a concious attempt to scare Yaz. She continued to step across the thin strip of concrete and even did a little twirl to show off.  
Missy chuckled, "Maybe that's why she never seemed interested in me."  
"Doctor? Aren't you going to do anything?" Ryan asked, his voice increasingly on edge.  
Graham seemed specially worried but there was something about Missy that he distrusted. She seemed like the kind of person who would trip and pull whoever is closest down with her.  
"Yaz, step back from there. I think she's messin' with ya." He warned.  
Missy stopped walking.  
"Ooo, very perceptive. And now I know exactly what kind of people you all are. Yaz, the selfless one- rushing in to help others. Ryan, the clever one- you saw me before, I more or less saved your life, and yet you still know not to trust me. And Graham, the /dis/trustful one. Interesting mix."  
She breathed in her newfound knowledge and then held out her hands to them.  
"Now someone be a doll and help me down."  
Ryan hurried over to Yaz and they looked to each other with indecision.  
"Don't touch her." The Doctor finally spoke, reaching one hand out towards them, her eyes still lost in thought.  
Both companions stopped and backed away from the ledge.  
The Doctor took their place and stared up at Missy.  
"Did you stay in hopes that /I/ would return here?"  
Missy smiled slightly and looked away, almost in a blush.  
"I was just waiting for your Tardis. I need to get off this rock."  
"Nonsense," The Doctor scoffed.  
Missy took another step across the flat surface but a small rock tipped the back of her heel off balance.  
She began to trip but the Doctor grabbed her wrist before she could go over the roof. In the blink of an eye, Missy was spun around and frozen, her entire body laying less than a foot above the rooftop. It looked as if she was standing nearly horizontally, with one foot on the ground, one foot on the edge of the rooftop, and her entire top half being held up by her hands clamped tightly around the Doctor's hand.  
Missy stared up at the Doctor, wide-eyed in surprise; but the Doctor only looked disappointed.  
They locked eyes for a moment and then the Doctor let go of her grip. Missy couldn't hold on and fell flat on her back against the hard cement. She let out a short-lived squeel of surprise that ended in the ground pressing the remaining air from her lungs.  
"Nice try." The Doctor said flatly.  
"Get me to catch you and then steal a Tardis key from my pocket, is that it? I at least expected more from you."  
The Doctor turned away.  
"Let's go."  
"Wait!" Missy called, scrambling to her feet.  
She desperately grabbed for the Doctor's hand to stop her from leaving.  
"They are after me! You know my past crimes but this is different! I- I was trying to be like you! I thought it would help me find you again! Nearly being killed by my past incarnation made me realize that maybe there is more to life that just being on the winning side and I- I realized maybe.... Don't make me say it...."  
The Doctor considered this, her expression still cold despite clearly wanting to help her friend.  
"If even ONE human dies-"  
"You can turn me in! If any of your precious pets even gets /hurt/ then you can hand me over to whatever authorities you like!"  
The Doctor paused again.  
Graham spoke up,  
"If she's done such unspeakable things, then why don't we just turn her to the actual space authorites or whoever?"  
"You're my least favorite child." Missy spat harshly.  
The Doctor turned to her companions.  
"Weren't you listening? She said she did something specific against the Edict this time. If we left the planet they'd grab us in minutes and then we would /all/ be killed on the charge of aiding and abetting a dangerous criminal. Our only option is to see what she did and find a way to sort it out /without/ getting any of us killed."  
Missy looked relieved and dramatically kissed The Doctor's hand.  
"Awe, sweetheart, you know me so well!"  
The Doctor pulled her hand away.  
"Just tell us what you did." The Doctor retorted, quickly exhausting from hearing the same old tactics over and over again.  
Missy didn't let The Doctor discourage her flirtacious attitude. She leaned in closer and whispered.  
"I have to show you."  
The Doctor let out a deep sigh.  
"Fine. But I'm laying down some ground rules first and you have to abide by them."  
"Lay 'em on me." Missy perked up. She raised her chin and leaned on her umbrella with both hands.  
The Doctor walked away and began to clean up the technology from the broadcast signal.  
She changed the adjustments on the tri-pod stand and collapsed the machine together so it was easier to carry. Then she began to wrap up the cords and handed them to her companions.  
"Put these in the Tardis and wait there. I'll just be a minute."  
The three nodded in agreement and returned to the box.  
Yaz began to close the door behind her but Ryan convinced her to leave it open a crack for them to hear what The Doctor would say. Graham was strongly opposed to it, but their curiosity soon got the better of them and they all three stood near the door to listen.  
"There will be absolutely no murder, no sudden betrayal, so schemes, and no injury to any of my friends. Not even in the /slightest/." The Doctor ordered.  
"Don't hurt the kiddies, /I get it/!" Missy rolled her eyes, "How you manage to love your little strays more and more every time is beyond me."  
"And another thing," the Doctor continued, "show them some respect."  
Missy debated this, rolling her head to either side.  
"I suppose if we're working together that makes them my kids now too..."  
"I mean it!" The Doctor insisted, slowly stepping closer to Missy. Neither Yaz, Ryan, nor Graham could hear anything they said after that.  
"You," she jabbed a finger at Missy's chest, "will die before you let anything happen to any of them. And you're going to start acting like it."  
Missy nodded, her cheeks getting a little red from how close The Doctor's face was to hers. They both pretended not to notice.  
"I'm getting a little sick of your games and honestly a little tired of your persona." The Doctor added in a slightly softer tone.  
Missy almost smiled.  
"It's the only way I know how to cope." She felt tears nearly touch her eyes, and not of her own design to minipulate the Doctor into showing a little extra sympathy. They'd been doing this dance for a long time and Missy wasn't so sure she wanted to keep playing anymore. At least, not in the way she and her past selves had been.  
"What I said before is all true. I saw that I lead to my own self distruction. I don't die in some amazing battle or even by your hand. I die because I became my own downfall and even I know now that's no way to live. I made myself a second chance and I /was/ trying to be better. Now look where it got me."  
For the first time in decades, the two almost saw eye to eye. They saw through the layers of pain and guilt and regret on either side until they saw their friend. Even if it was just for a single moment.  
"Okay." The Doctor gave in.  
Missy's expression turned to confusion.  
"I didn't even ask anything."  
"You want another chance," the Doctor held up one finger in emphesis, "I believe you, so I'll give you /one/ more."  
Missy beamed a very real smile and clung to one of the Doctor's arms.  
"Oh thank you! I-"  
"Now show me what you did."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was soooo fun to write lol
> 
> I really wanted to give her a reason to change and join up with The Doctor so I hope you enjoy the direction I take it!
> 
> Plz kudos/comment :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missy reveals why the bounty hunters of Emdaber are after her and inadvertantly proves to The Doctor why she might be redeemable after all.

"Alright." Missy began, swiveling around the Tardis monitor for a better view. She typed some coordinates into a glowing keypad and then shoved the screen around its track so that it stopped in front of The Doctor's view.  
The Doctor, on the other hand, had retrieved the large black box she had left on the side of the rooftop and was wiring it into the Tardis console.  
"It's only at 78% but that will have to do." She announced.  
Yaz watched over the Doctor's shoulder.  
"So what does that box do exactly? At first I thought it was for the transmission you sent out but it's not is it?"  
"Yeah that's right!" Ryan chimed in. "I saw the guage go up as soon as that ship approached. Did you steal it's power or something?"  
"That's very close, the both of you!" The Doctor addressed them proudly.  
"Actually, I copied their computer data- 78% of it at least. We now have 78% of all the information they have on their ship! You know how I was telling you that they had a list of criminals they were after? Well, I assumed they wouldn't be very keen to tell us themselves so I figured this way we could take a look; not to mention see what else they have up there!"  
She tuned the dials and typed in key words until she found a list of names.  
"There would have been more but they left before I could copy everything," The Doctor noted with mild annoyance.  
Missy had no choice but to join them in gathering around the screen.  
"Ah, there I am. Top of the charts." Missy sighed daintily yet as if she was proud of her accomplishment.  
"How is that possible? That doesn't look anything like your name." Yaz pointed to the screen.  
Missy narrowed her eyes threateningly before turning to the Doctor.  
"Really? These are the people you /choose/ to bring with you? Next they'll tell me your name really /is/ The Doctor!"  
But the Time Lord in question had already moved to a different part of the console and was looking at the coordinates Missy had punched in.  
"This location.... Missy, this can't be right." The Doctor tossed a hand in the direction of the small string of numbers across the screen.  
"I knew you were going to be like this!" Missy turned away melodramatically. "Just let me show you!"  
-

"Listen Doc, you know we all trust you- we really do- but I really don't like this woman. You even said it yourself! We can't trust her- so why are you?"  
The Doctor scanned over the eyes of her companions. They all seemed uneasy about Missy and even more so with the decision to bring her on board the Tardis.  
The Doctor tried to calm them with am optimistic smile and a glanced to Missy who was locking the coordinates into the Tardis.  
She was momentarily distracted as Missy unpinned her hat and allowed some of her curly brown hair slid out of place. The Doctor's eyes were oblivious to the woman herself as Missy stared away at nothing. Maybe it was the new outfit or the regeneration energy that made made her look a little more lively- but for whatever reason, Missy seemed to be painted in a better light under the careful watch of the Tardis.  
The Doctor was still on guard for any signs of betrayal, but she really did want to believe that she and Missy could be friends again. The Doctor was at war with herself as she tried to convince herself she could trust Missy while also being careful not to get hurt again. There was a lot at risk but The Doctor was optimistic.  
"I've gotten my hopes up in the past, but maybe this time can be different." The Doctor explained quietly, even though she was sure Missy was listening to the best of her ability.  
"Under any other circumstances, I would never let her back in the Tardis; but the Edict of Emdaber are ruthless. If they get their hands on her she's as good as dead and we both know that. It's too early to know how this will play out but she's...." The Doctor turned to her companions once more, leaning closer to them with emphasis in her voice.  
"She's the only other person like me," The Doctor said more profoundly than she meant to let on, "-and the only other one left at that. I have to at least /try/ to fix things."  
Ryan was the first to reply,  
"Then why haven't you mentioned her before? Ow!"  
Yaz elbowed him in the side and whispered loudly to him. "Be sensative!"  
Out of the corner of her eye, the Doctor noticed Missy look away sharpy. The Doctor pushed it from her mind and chuckled as if the topic was nothing more than a lighthearted chat.  
"It's okay! It was a long time ago. I didn't say anything because I really did think she was dead-"  
"Darling, I'm ready!" Missy called flirtaciously.  
The Doctor wondered if Missy had finally chosen to speak up just to stop her from talking about such difficult days in the past.  
The wanted timelady dramatically leaned against the Tardis console with one hand but reflexively pulled it away as the console shocked her.  
"Hey you!" She turned angrily to the Tardis's center, "You shared her with the humans! Can't you show me some love?"  
She rubbed the console gently but it only shocked her a second time.  
The Doctor laughed a little louder than she meant to,  
"I take it you're going to keep up the show in front of the others, huh?"  
"Well I can't very well let you strip me down to nothing in front of them, now can I?"  
Missy leaned back against the controls with a soft yet dangerous expression.  
The Doctor ignored it. Replying flatly,  
"I'll take that as a yes."  
The Doctor pulled the screen from behind Missy's back and spun it around for a better look. Missy sighed and finally gave up the act.  
"You know, your last incarnation was a lot more fun."  
The Doctor only shrugged and then turned her complete attention to the task at hand.  
"Alright, here we go! Hold onto something!"  
Her companions happily complied but Missy stood in Yaz's way. Her words were close enough to worry that if Yaz hadn't known better, she would have been fooled.  
"Do I come on too strong? She used to like it. At least I think she did. Has it gone out of style?"  
Yaz squinted and shook her head, baffled.  
"Well I was thinking you would know." Missy sighed, subsequently brushing her off.  
Yaz glanced at the strange woman as she passed. Yaz was becoming convinced that this dangerous timelady harbored some strange envy towards her, yet didn't quite understand why.  
Missy didn't bother grounding herself and instead attempted to predict the turns and jolts of the Tardis. She danced around, turning each sudden drop and flinch into an elegant series of movements.  
"Be careful, Missy!" Yaz warned. She wasn't concerned for the odd woman in and traditional sense, but her instincts and training as a policewoman got the better of her when she saw Missy in unsafe situations. Unfortunately, her good intentions only seemed to encourage Missy.  
"Oh yawn. I was alive long before any of you were born. I think I know how to handle myself."  
She spun around as the ground rocked sharply and unpredictably.  
"Doctor, won't you dance with me?"  
The Doctor considered it, but in the end chose the wiser option not join in. She focused on pilotimg the Tardis instead. In only a handful of seconds, the Tardis landed again.  
"Alright now listen." Missy announced, beating the others to the path that lead to the front doors.  
"I don't want you getting the wrong idea. I was simply trying to do a good thing and of /course/ it ended up screwing me over so just work with me on this."  
Missy elegantly stepped down the ramp and pushed both doors open at once.  
The Doctor then sprinted after her and the others had no idea what to do other than follow in suit.  
They hurried out into a beautiful calm night. A cool brease swept through large fields of grass that ultimately lead down the path to one, somewhat-large house sitting in the middle of mostly open land.  
"Where are we?" Ryan asked first.  
The Doctor looked out over the land bathed in moonlight.  
"We're still in the same year, just a little farther away from Sheffield. I could tell from the coordinates. However...."  
Graham peaked out from the Tardis doors.  
"However what?"  
The Doctor squinted off into the distance.  
"However... there shouldn't be anything here. Not unless she stashed something I suppose.... Well, come on!"  
She began to hurry down the hillside.  
Off in the distance a little ways away was a large farmhouse that they watched Missy disappear into.  
Unsure as to what to do, the group waited outside the house and to their surprise, Missy returned holding the hand of a small child.  
"It's not what you think." Missy bluntly clearified.  
"The kid's not mine. This while thing started in the early 27th century. I was stuck there- Tardis breaking for the millionth time- so I passed the time using a cheap vortex minipulator to shoplift parts off spaceships docked in a particular station. It was nothing essencial, just something I could either use to fix /my/ Tardis or sell for money to buy parts I /could/ use.  
"Anyways, I had leapt aboard this one ship- more by convenience than any other reason- and was searching for valuable parts when I heard this weird conversation."  
Missy gestured with her free hand for emphesis.  
"/Usually/ I would think nothing of it, but someone important-sounding began to read off criminal charges and I /knew/ I wasn't dumb enough to sneak onto a government ship to steal scrap so I was completely baffled. I snuck down the ship's hall and found myself in a large room where they insinerated a man right before my eyes. Now, I've seen a lot of criminals in my day, but I've never seen anyone beg like this guy. He told this group I'd never seen before to spare his child. That his kin had nothing to do with him. But these murderous creatures said /no/! They said that "The child must die to prevent future rebellion" or something and- I don't know about you, but I love a good rebellion. I don't know why, but I watched them insinerate this man and then turn to deal the same punishment to his child who couldn't be more than 7 years old and I just... I couldn't let them. I ran in, grabbed the kid, and escaped as fast as I could. But then this blasted thing," Missy raised her wrist to show them the vortex minipulator once more, "must have been damaged in the process because the best I could do is get to the /21st/ century. And, well, you know the rest."  
She sighed, tossing her head all the way back for a moment before standing up straight once more.  
"Being good is such a pain."  
The Doctor knelt down before the child but they clung to Missy's left leg and hid behind her pants. The child looked very human but a scan with her sonic screwdriver showed that they definately weren't. The child also appeared to be much smarter than they let on. They looked over each newcomer as if trying to decide who was trustworthy.  
Missy turned her head to look down at the child.  
"You don't have to be scared. I told you I would keep you safe."  
The others watched in mild confusion as Missy spoke to the child like she would to any other adult. The only thing missing from her voice was the sharp edge that usually made her words sound as if they were personally targetting you.  
"Now, this is my best friend," Missy gestured one hand over to the Doctor, who tilted her head and smiled gently.  
Missy then crossed her arms, "If you're going to hide behind anyone, it should be her."  
"I'm the Doctor!" She greeted the child chipperly. "Do you have a name?"  
The child stayed silent but did meet her eyelevel, small fingers tightly clenched onto the seams of Missy's pants. The child was barely the height of Missy's hips.  
"That's alright." The Doctor said gently.  
She looked up to Missy.  
"Family?"  
"I would think so but-" Missy patted the child's shoulder softly. "Show them."  
The child had short dark hair and wore traditional 21st century Earth clothes but as they rolled up their sleeve, the Doctor quickly stepped back. On the child's wrist was a rather large marking for such a small being, the same symbol that was so boldly painted on the outside of the ship. It was identical, the large star with a small triangle and crecent moon through it.  
The Doctor didn't mean to have such a strong reaction, but quickly put it together the pieces.  
"So that means-"  
Missy nodded. "Yes yes. The kid's famiy worked for them." She continued far too nonchelantly to be in good taste, "Their father must have done something to betray that murderous cult and I wouldn't be surprised if their entire family was dead by now."  
Graham interjected, "Have some respect!"  
Missy shot back, her words peircing, "Why bother? It's just the facts. It's not like it does them any good if we dance around it."  
Graham raised a finger in anger, "It does /you/ a fat lot'a good because if Grace /were/ here she'd teach ya a lesson you wouldn't soon forget!"  
The Doctor held out her hands for the two of them to stop.  
"This doesn't help anything! There's no use in arguing. Missy," she turned her head sharply as she lowered her hands, "What is this /really/ about?"  
Missy highed heavily but then looked to the sky and began to laugh wildly. She covered her face with her hands but it only muffled her laughter.  
Missy stepped away from the child and aggresively lessened the gap between her and the Doctor. She moved her face so close to the Doctor that their lips nearly touched, but Missy's eyes only flickered over the adventurous time traveler and then landed on her eyes.  
The Doctor didn't move an inch as Missy spoke, her lips hot with emotion and most of all, rage.  
"You hypocrite."  
"You think I don't want to help?" The Doctor replied, a dull thud could be heard as she pressed her forehead against Missy's. Missy's actions felt like some sort of challange and The Doctor gladly accepted it.  
Unlike Missy's previous flirtacious nature, attraction now seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind. Her words sounded as of they were filled with venom and she was ready to strike any second.  
"You always talk a big game whenever it comes to /humans/," she spat, "but then you hesitate to save a kid?!"  
Missy's voice then lowered, "You and I have nearly identical backgrounds; and yet you've saved about as many humans as I've tried to kill. The kid is still young- there's no way to know who they'll become. And even then- there's always time to change. Even you can't predict that."  
The Doctor abruptly diverted her eyes in thought and it was enough of a reaction for Missy to smile with immense pride.  
Suddenly, the Doctor put her hands on either side of Missy's face and kissed her cheek.  
The excited time traveler grinned wildly while Missy seemed to be paralized with shock. The Doctor stepped back and spoke excitedly,  
"You're absolutely right, Missy! There's always time to change! I know exactly what we need to do next!"  
The Doctor then kneeled down before the child once more.  
"We're going to do whatever it takes to get you back to your family, okay? I've got a plan."  
The kid smiled a little and it made The Doctor grin even more wildly. She then leapt up and brushed her hands together.  
"Alright everyone, here's what we're going to do!"  
-

As the group headed back to the Tardis, The Doctor enthusiastically began to explain her plan but although she said a lot, it made little sense to the others- appart from Missy.  
As The Doctor unlocked the Tardis doors she stopped her techno-bable and turned to Missy as they headed to the center of the room.  
"Alright, so, in summary; here it is. Missy?"  
The woman perked up her head in surprise.  
"Me?"  
"Yeah!" The Doctor grinned. "What's the plan?"  
The Doctor then stepped back against one of the large protruding crystal-like structures and crossed her arms, waiting patiently.  
When Missy had said that there's always time to change, The Doctor had seen definitively that she meant what she was saying. It felt like exactly what she needed to hear to believe her and for the first time, The Doctor really did believe that things between them could change after all.  
Now The Doctor wanted Missy to prove her trust to the others. She needed to do the impossible and let them try to understand her. The Doctor hoped that by putting Missy in a position similar to her own, that her friends might see that she and Missy weren't so different. It was risky, but as The Doctor gave Missy an excited smile and watched as her archrival's eyes grew wide and face seem to liven up at the chance to show off, The Doctor realized maybe it could be well worth the risk.  
Missy cleared her throat and glanced around for a moment before fully assuming her position. Her voice became stronger and more focused, her actions more direct and purposeful, and her body language more confident.  
"Alright, listen up! First thing's first. The key part in any scheme is to make good use of what you already have, and the best thing we have is intel!"  
Missy spun the console screen around and stood next to it. She then momentarily leaned over the array of many controls to reach the large black box The Doctor had wired in to the Tardis and tap it with her fingers.  
"Now this baby over here contains a copy of 78% of all the information aboard the ship currently trying to hunt us down. But here's where it get's fun because- like me- The Doctor is also a bit of a drama queen."  
The Doctor rolled her eyes but said nothing as Missy flashed her an amused smile. Missy then turned back to her small audience with an extra dash of charm.  
"Hasn't anyone been wondering why it's so big?"  
She asked, similarly to a preformer before revealing their trick. No response.  
"Or perhaps why it has two separate guages?"  
Still nothing.  
"Wow okay," she momentarily dropped the act. "You know, you're a lot more fun when it's The Doctor showing off but alright, whatever."  
She cleared her throat once more and turned the box for everyone to see.  
"In your future, computers become so small you can fit the entire history of the human race on a device almost invisible to the naked eye. However, this thing here was mostly thrown together with 21st century material- so not all that impressive, right? Well the reason it has two guages is because this is not simply a cheap device used for copying information. Even one of your silly little usb drives is capable of that! No, this box here resembles a little something called a Pulsive Override Updater which was- will be?" Missy momentarily hesitated with what tense to use when addressing travelers from Earth's 21st century. She quickly decided it was unimportant and continued, "Point is- Override Updaters are machines which can, more or less, be used to update the computer systems of entire fleets of 'space ships', as you would so elegantly put it." She gave a mild shrug and then turned back to the contraption,  
"This one is just thrown together, but even it has more than enough power to affect one little ship. Do you see where I'm going with this?"  
Ryan spoke up, his words slow with thought.  
"So you're saying... that that machine is modeled off of a different device that's used to update large computer systems en masse. So...."  
Something suddenly seemed to click into place as his eyes lit up. He pointed over to The Doctor,  
"You said those hunter guys are constantly recieving updates as to how much different people are worth."  
Yaz chimed in, "We use the updater as an override and make them think that none of us have commited any crimes and thus aren't worth anything!"  
"Exactly!" Missy exclaimed happily, clasping her hands together. She turned briefly to her old friend.  
"You're right, this /is/ better with an audience!"  
The Doctor smiled and then leapt over to stand next to her. The Doctor continued on with the plan from there.  
"Thing is, we don't have the complete data yet- so to be sure we clear our names, we need to change their entire system. That means we have to get in range long enough to copy the rest of the data, change the pulse radius, and override the entire system which will take a good several minutes. Also, and most importantly," her tone suddenly became more serious, "we will need to have the device closer to the ship's onboard system than it is to the Tardis to avoid any unforseen damage so her systems," The Doctor patted the console, "because like Missy said- these things were originally built to update entire fleets. We can adjust the proximity of the override, but the Tardis /has to stay outside/ of the affected area."  
"Missy," The Doctor pointed a finger, "I'll have to run the updater to the control room which means you'll be in charge of the Tardis while I'm gone."  
Missy's eyes widened and her head raised, "Moi?!"  
"Her?!" The others asked in surprise.  
"You're the only one who can fly her in case something happens." The Doctor put her hands on Missy's upper arms. "I need to know everyone will get home safe."  
"Funny how 'everyone' never seems to include you." Missy replied with a fliracious yet almost sad smile.  
The Doctor pulled away and began to pilot the Tardis in her usual, unexplainable way. She entered some numbers, shifted what looked like the gear lever of a car, and flipped several switches.  
"Not unless you have a way to avoid detection. How did you avoid being caught right before you met up with us on that rooftop."  
Missy shrugged, helping to fly the ship by racing around the controls opposite to The Doctor. She pressed a few buttons that lit up in reply and rolled a small wheel. "Just piggybacking off the Tardis's natural camaflauge. You might know how to make a cheap perception filter, but I needed something to avoid scans. You know dimentional engineering? I found a way to bend the time /around/ myself instead so I was unnoticable to scans, even if I was walking down the street plain as day."  
The Doctor looked up excitedly, "I totally need to talk to you about that at some point- but that won't help me when I'm on board. I'll just have to wing it." She shrugged casually. The Tardis made it's usual distinct noise as she stepped away.  
The Doctor then straightned up in a sharp, energetic fashion.  
"Are we there?" Graham asked, "That was our smoothest ride so far!"  
The Doctor rested her hands in her pockets with a grin.  
"It helps to have an extra set of hands. Plus we weren't traveling far. That was nothing!"  
She quickly changed gears,  
"Alright-y then!"  
She turned to each of her friends as she addressed their roles,  
"Missy, you're designated driver-"  
"I don't think that means what you think it means," Missy quipped, "but do continue,"  
"Graham and Ryan, I need you to stay here and watch the kid- make sure they doesn't go anywhere or get their hands on anything. And more importantly watch out for Missy."  
The timelady in question rolled her eyes.  
"And Yaz-" she turned to the police officer.  
"You're not going out there alone." Yaz said firmly.  
"I thought as much," The Doctor replied softly. Her voice then turned very serious, "But if at any point I tell you to go back to the Tardis I need you to do as I say."  
Yaz nodded and the Doctor hurried to grab the bulky mental override device and fine-tuned it as she headed for the doors as she fine-tuned it, mumbling to herself as she did so.  
"Right-o! We'll be back soon!" The Doctor assured everyone cheerfully before turning back to the box in her hands.  
Missy suddenly lashed out an arm and caught Yaz's coat, without drawing any attention from The Doctor.  
"You know I don't like you," Missy began, "but The Doctor will kill me if anything happens to you /kids/ so-"  
She spoke as if her own words felt like poison just to say but somehow made it through them.  
"Just... bring her back safe...."  
Yaz nodded softly, almost feeling something connect with the distressed woman. But then Missy spoke again and the moment was gone,  
"Or I swear to every deity of every religion you currently know of that I'll kill your family and anyone you've ever so much as liked. If you let her die she won't be around to stop me. You got that?"  
Yaz nodded even faster and when Missy let go, Yaz hurried away. The Doctor only turned to notice that Yaz wasn't behind her when she reached the Tardis doors, and thus never noticing Missy's threats.  
"Ready?" The Doctor asked.  
Yaz glanced back to Missy for barely a second before brushing off the interaction. She focused herself on the task at hand.  
"Yes." She replied with great determination.  
The Doctor opened the doors and lead the way.  
-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here are just a couple of things I feel are worth mentioning to anyone who cares:  
> When Missy or The Doctor are each refered to as their own complete person, I write them with singular they/them pronouns.  
> Hope I don't confuse anyone.  
> Also the kid reminds Missy that she couldn't save her own child back on Gallifrey and that, by becoming good she can feel these things she's been hiding and so trying to save this kid kind of reflects what haunts her. Hopefully my writing can speak for itself but idk so that's what I was aiming for.  
> As always, thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missy admits some things about her and The Doctor's pasts. Ryan realizes why Missy's good deed causes her such anguish.  
> Yaz and The Doctor head off to erase theirs and Missy's names from the Edict's hitlist, but Yaz returns alone....

"They'll be okay, won't they?" Graham found himself turning to Ryan for confirmation.  
Usually Ryan would have reassured him but Missy only pushed through the two of them in a blunt and dramatic fashion. She replied before he could,  
"Oh, I highly doubt it. But then again, The Doctor's died more than all 13 of a Time Lord or Lady's usual lifespan and she's still here- so who knows."  
Missy stepped down from the main platform and began to walk along the side walls. Out of curiosity- and partially caution- Ryan followed and so did Graham soon after.  
Ryan followed the strange woman closely and spoke to her while Graham tagged along behind them more carefully.  
"You said the Doctor has lived over 13 lives?!" Ryan asked enthusiastically.  
Missy looked him over with an intrigued look. Her movements flowed together but she held herself almost defensively, as if a single motion ws enough for her to attack.  
She seemed indecive for a moment and let her fingers dance over the unique shapes in the wall before replying.  
"I suppose you /are/ my favorite of the kiddos so I'll be honest this time," she boldly addressed the man who was several inches taller, even as she faced him in heels.  
"It's true. The Doctor's lived over a dozen lives and I've known them through... most of them. I, myself, am not as foolish. I may be a tad self-destructive but I know when to get the hell out of dodge. I haven't gone through nearly as many lives, yet it doesn't seem to matter," she said as if proving some kind of point, "We're both here, aren't we?"  
She chuckled and then continued,  
"Each regeneration they're still The Doctor... but each life is also a different person. In their previous life, I tried to reconnect with them- but I guess I'm... an aquired taste. Or at least this me is. But my last death finally taught me to move on. It showed me that if I don't change I lead to my own self-distruction. How sad is that?" She scoffed.  
"So when I finally escaped that Hell- alive- I used some regeneration energy to fix myself up and I decided to change for good. I even tried to be more like The Doctor. I tried to save someone- an innocent kid about to be killed- and all it did was get us into this mess!"  
Missy pounded a fist on the wall as if looking for something. Her eyes teared up slightly even though she looked away.  
Ryan seemed to notice but looked away as a curtacy, "Have you tried, maybe just, being yourself?" He asked, his voice full of kindness.  
Missy began to laugh, the tears falling from her eyes in response to the sharp motion. She wiped them away, one hand bracing herself against the wall as she nearly doubled over with laughter.  
"Sweetheart, that's real nice and all; but trying to be myself drenched my hands in blood. I'm kind of due for some improvements."  
Her shoulder fell into the wall as she continued to laugh a somewhat pained yet somehow wholehearted laugh.  
Ryan shrugged and smiled a little, "Fair point."  
Missy finally recovered and pushed open a previously unseen door in the wall.  
"Be myself!" She continued to chuckle as she entered.  
"I haven't laughed half that hard in many, many years!"  
She swung herself by one arm around the side of the door frame and turned back to the center of the Tardis room.  
"Hey, come on, kid!"  
The small child fearfully hurried after her at the sound of being summoned and grabbed onto the edge of her pants. The child had been hiding behind one of the large crystal-like structures near the Tardis doors and seemed beyond relieved to finally be back at Missy's side.  
"Where are we going?" Graham asked.  
"And how did you know this was here?" Ryan added, baffled, as the small group entered a brightly lit hallway.  
Missy turned to looked at them as she walked, holding the scared child's hand ever so gently in her own.  
"The Doctor tells you her ship is bigger on the inside than the outside and you never wondered /how big/? How unimaginative. I'm disappointed."  
Graham hurried ahead to join them.  
"Hey! Shouldn't we stay up front? What if The Doctor needs us?" He worried.  
"Then go wait up there if it eases you!" She brushed him off. "I'm not going far- just to let the kid pick out something to wear. Your 21st century clothes are dreadful and I'm sure they would prefer something better."  
Mere seconds after she spoke, they entered through a doorway that branched off of the hall. It opened up into an enormous, brightly-lit room with a spiral staircase that lead up to a second floor. The entire room was filled with countless racks of clothing of all different styles and for people of all different shapes and sizes. The display of hundreds or maybe even thousands of combinations of colors and fabrics was almost breathtaking. The two humans gaped in awe at the spectical but Missy only took a single look before heading to a specific section just behind the staircase.  
"Try over there and pick out anything you like!"  
Missy gently nudged the child towards the racks.  
After a few seconds to take it all in, the child happily took off into the large assortments of clothing that was closest to their size.  
"For someone so terrible you're rather good with kids," Ryan pointed out.  
Missy watched as the small child happily pulled clothes down from hangers for a better look. After a few attempts to get it back onto the hangers, they awkwardly tried to fold whatever they had taken and tried to make a neat pile at their feet.  
"Honestly, this is the first kid I've seen in many years. I do my best to avoid them." She said coldly.  
"Why?" Ryan asked, curiosity leading him astray from his better judgement.  
Missy simply shook her head. Her eyes stayed locked onto the child, refusing to look at Ryan. After several seconds or so she did speak, but her words sounded empty. As if the room could be burning down around them and not a single fiber of her being could care less.  
She glanced to the floor,  
"The short version? My family died when my home planet was burnt to the ground in a war- and I wasn't even there to see it. I should have burned with them. Maybe that's why I tried so hard to save this kid."  
She looked at the child for a moment, eyes distant.  
Suddenly, she spoke chipperly again, like The Doctor sometimes did.  
"But that hardly matters now. Dwelling on it has gotten me no where. I've gained some perspective now and I realize I often forget: The Doctor lost their family in the war, same as me."  
Ryan and Graham looked at each other with wide eyes but Missy didn't seem to notice.  
"I suppose my life being destroyed wasn't completely The Doctor's fault. Just don't ever tell her I said that. She'd throw a fit. I've always been the smarter one, but I was stupid enough to follow them into the unknown that first time they left Gallifrey. That was the beginning of this ruin we call lives. There's too much history between us to ever fully recite."  
She tossed one hand in the air as if to say this insight into her and The Doctor's lives was completely insignificant.  
"But now, after spending so much time trapped in the bitter past, I finally realized that I /have to change/- if for nothing other than my own self-preservation, and it's like I'm still losing." She sighed, "It's exhausting."  
She finally tossed herself down over a small loveseat. She rested her elbow on the armrest and tossed one knee over the other one. She rested her head in the palm of her hand.  
The two humans silently discussed what to say, Missy's back to them. They had so many questions yet no idea where to begin. They knew The Doctor was an alien but neither of them could have ever dreamed up information like this. They both tried to convince the other to question Missy but despite the sudden outburst of truth, they were still cautious around her. There was something about the way she acted that made them scared to challange her. If what she said was true then she was a murderer with nothing more to lose and that sounded like the most dangerous thing you could come across in all of time and space.  
Unfortunately for them, they missed their window to ask anything more as the small child suddenly hurried back towards Missy, eager to show off their new clothes. The child looked and acted so human that for a moment, Ryan and Graham both forgot they were the only humans in the room.  
Their top was several layers of a beautiful air-y blue fabric that draped from their left shoulder and over their upper right arm in a way that looked like the late night sky. Over their small legs was a pair of dark blue slacks layered with little overlapping semicircles fabric.  
"Comfy?" Missy asked with a ghost of a smile on her lips.  
The child grinned happily and climbed onto the couch to hug Missy's arm tightly in thanks.  
Missy momentarily patted the child's shoulder with her free hand but remained nearly expressionless.  
"How about we find you something to eat?"  
Missy stood up and the child grinned confidently for the first time since the companions had seen them. They jumped up from the couch and grabbed for Missy's hand.  
Missy chuckled but there was something about it that seemed to cause her great pain. She looked like she was fighting an instinct from deep down as she accepted the hand from the excited child.  
"C'mon. Let's head back to the main room." Ryan turned away as Missy headed futher down the hall in the opposite direction.  
Graham replied with worry, "Remember what The Doc said, we can't trust 'er!"  
Ryan shrugged, watching Missy walk away for another moment before heading back to the front of the Tardis.  
"Then you can follow her if ya want. I'd rather make sure The Doctor's okay."  
Graham grumbled and hesitated before deciding to follow Ryan instead.  
"I don't like it, but we've got to look out for each other. If the Doc's in danger I want to help."  
-

"Alright Yaz, quickly now!" The Doctor scanned the room they had landed in with her sonic. She glanced at it before hurrying to hide against one of the walls.  
"No readings of alarms or motion detectors in this area. I don't think they know we're here yet. That's a relief!"  
She began to search the room, uncovering tarps to reveal large containers. She pulled one open to find a crate of weapons.  
She scrunched up her nose at the sight.  
"Well that's of no use to us. However," she pulled away another tarp, "this means we must be in storage. Storage is good- we'll be far enough away from the main computers when we use the override."  
She pulled the box from under her arm and spoke as she headed for the doors at the opposite end of the room.  
"Now look here Yaz," she pointed to the left guage numbered 0 to 100 on the of a semi-circle. The small arrow was stopped at 78, "this guage represents the percentage of information it contains. When it gets to 100 it will have made a perfect copy, except I have already changed the list of criminals. Soon, we'll be worth nothing to them and the other quote end quote 'criminals' are worth far too little for the hunters to bother with. When it hits 100, we will then hit this secondary dial that will redisperse the information into the computer. Easy!"  
Yaz still looked sceptical.  
"But we need to avoid being detected while we do all of this!"  
The Doctor nodded, "Well. Yes. But I secretly scanned Missy's vortex minipulator so the only way the Edict can spot us is if they see us face to face. They /can't/ see us on their lifesign scans."  
"I guess she /can/ be useful after all," Yaz scoffed.  
"Oh, I wouldn't speak too ill of her," The Doctor said slyly, "she's currently our getaway driver and last line of defence. You think these guys are bad now- imagine if they got their hands on a time machine!"  
The Doctor cracked open the large metal door and looked out.  
"Not to mention, she /is/ kind of my best friend."  
"You said we absolutely could not trust her. How is /she/ your best friend?  
There was no one and nothing in sight appart from the cold metal-lined halls. There were few other doors nearby but the ones that were looked slightly rusted on their boarders, decorated with large metal rivets. It was a pretty dark place and anything that wasn't made of an iron-coated style of metal like the doors and control pannels, was made of a slightly-reflective yet rough material- almost like brick.  
"You jealous?" The Doctor chuckled lightheartedly.  
Yas replied strongly, "If anything I think she's a little jealous of me!"  
The Doctor opened the door to check for guards in the other direction but then quickly pulled it nearly shut again.  
"That's one of them." The Doctor said quietly, completely changing the conversation.  
Yaz looked over the rather tall figure as it passed by. The creature didn't look human at all. The bounty hunter had blue-green skin that was covered in triangular scales. The hunter's body was covered by a dark blue and black uniform jacket that was mostly plain, but had the same large logo as their ship on the front and back.  
There was also what looked roughly like half a pair of glasses over their left eye, but instead of hooking over their ear, it seemed to wrap itself halfway around their head and never moved in the slightest fall as the wearer walked, almost like it was a part of them.  
Once the hunter had passed by for a good few seconds, Yaz whispered,  
"If they're suppose to be so stealthy then why is their symbol so obvious?"  
"So they don't mistake each other for criminals. Kidnapping people from their own timeline is also a crime, even to the Edict."  
Yaz chuckled, "So they're all just hypocrites?"  
The Doctor didn't laugh, "In a word maybe. But to be fair, they think they're doing the right thing. That's what really makes them dangerous. Now come on."  
The pair scurried across the hall and The Doctor found a nearby lift. The pair hopped in and The Doctor used her sonic screwdriver to pry off the scanner. She scrambled through the mess of wires and finally found the one she was looking for. She connected it to the designated floor she wanted and the platform began to move.  
"Are we moving sizeways?!" Yaz asked in shock.  
"Yeah. Sideways lifts. They move up, down, left, right, and some can even do diagonal! Super convenient when you're late for a meeting. Although I do love a good sprint. Good for the old hearts."  
The movement then changed and the metal beneith their feet moved upwards.  
It wasn't long until they stopped and the doors opened.  
"Hault! Who are you!" Two guards suddenly raised their weapons at the new arrivals.  
The Doctor put the box under her arm and raised her hands.  
"Excuse you! I am far too tired for this!" The Doctor said sternly as she stepped out of the lift. "I've just been on an undercover mission trying to find that villain Missy and this is the welcome back I get?  
"Shame on you! Both of you!" She lowered her hands and shook her head in disappointment.  
The two guards glanced at each other for a moment but then readied their weapons once more.  
"Then where is your eyepiece?" One of them demanded.  
"And why didn't you change your horrible clothes when you came back on board?" The other questioned.  
The Doctor scoffed, offended.  
"Okay, rude! But it was worth a shot," she shrugged.  
"Run!"  
She and Yaz bolted off as fast as they could.  
They hurried to one side of the room and turned the nearest corner as fast as they could.  
The Doctor sprinted as fast as she could, the air catching in her coat as she did so. She more or less slid into the next room, picking up more soldiers as they ran.  
"There's more of them!" Yaz warned, voice filling with worry as lazers wizzed past them with incredible speed.  
The Doctor turned a corner and bought enough time for a glance at the box she was holding.  
"Ooo it's workiiing!" She said excitedly. "We must be very close! We're at 92% already!"  
She turned another corner and found a small unlocked room, possibly a break room. Inside it were a few pieces of furnature and a table full of information on their latest hunt: Missy.  
The Doctor pulled Yaz inside and locked the door.  
"Alright. What can we do?? Think think think!" The Doctor said, pacing across the room.  
"Doctor?" Yas tried to get her attention.  
"I'd say we should impersonate one of them but it wouldn't workout without one of those eye pieces. They'd still know it was us immediately!"  
"Doctor!"  
She suddenly spun around.  
"What?"  
"The override is at 100%," Yaz pointed out.  
The Doctor abruply slammed the override device down on a nearby surface and whipped out her sonic screwdriver.  
"Yes! Perfect! Alright..." she made a few quick adjustments.  
"The range for its output set. It's override can't mess with the Tardis systems from here. But we still need a place to set it from. And the hunters are onto us so we need an airtight plan... think!"  
She paced, hands out in front of her with deep thought.  
Suddenly she slammed her palm against her head.  
"That's IT!"  
The Doctor excitedly turned to Yaz and put her hands over the woman's upper arms with great excitement.  
"There are bound to be dozens more armed hunters in the control room, but we don't even need to go in there! All we have to do, is set the override off from here! If this contraptions can recieve a signal from here then it can surely send one back! Now listen carefully, here's where it gets dangerous."  
-

Ryan and Graham looked up from their smalltalk to see Yaz sprinting towards the Tardis on the small monitor before them.  
"Open the doors!" She shouted.  
Ryan and Graham both hurried down the ramp to the doors and pulled them open just as Yaz reached them.  
"Where's the Doctor?" They both asked.  
Yaz pushed the doors closed, her chest heaving.  
"Get Missy-" she said before being cut off by another desperate attempt for air.  
"I got it! I'll be right back!"  
Ryan sprinted off down the side hall in search of the Time Lady.  
Yaz gave a half-hearted thumbs up before doubling over and pressing her palms against her thighs.  
"Are you okay?" Graham questioned, leaning closer to make sure she wasn't injured.  
"Yeah." She spoke despite having not yet to caught her breath. "We made it to a room next to the computer systems."  
Ryan returned with Missy and Yaz slowly walked up to the console to speak to everyone at once.  
"The override was ready and she set the range. It's in place and working right now, replacing every mention of any 'criminal' with a death sentence- into one that is barely worth enough to track down. It's working but it's slow, she wanted to save everyone- to let them have fair trial by the real authorities and held accountable for their crimes. She said it would take about 20 minutes. She told me to run back while she destracted the guards and that once the override was complete, she would come back here. She- she said once she changed the list the bounty hunters would have to let her go."  
"She's a liar!" Missy snapped furiously. "I'm going to go down there and kill her myself!"  
"What?" All three companions snapped, fearful for their friend's safety.  
"She lied!" Missy hissed harshly. "Even if the override works, those murderers still know that she snuck on their ship. 20 minutes or not, if they get close enough they'll kill her!"  
Yaz looked away, betrayed and beyond terrified for!her friend.  
"But I left 'er!" Her face suddenly snapped back to stare down Missy, "We have to go back and get 'er!"  
Missy looked almost surprised by such a strong response but didn't let it show for more than a second. Instead she sighed heavily, tossing her head back and lowering herself slightly in annoyance.  
"Uhhhhhhhggg fiiiinnnne."  
She rolled her eyes, one of her many luxerious curls sliding into her face. She tucked it over her ear nonchelantly. She seemed unconcerned, as if this entire situation was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. Even her body language didn't betray the frivolous facade.  
"/I'll/ go save her."  
Yaz stepped in her way, "Absolutely not!"  
Missy brushed her aside.  
"Oh please. You abandoned her out there in the first place."  
Yaz's cheeks reddened slightly.  
"I did not! I trusted her! I didn't know-"  
"Well maybe if you knew her like I do you would have known better. Now someone go watch out for the child. I was worried something like this would happen so I told them to stay in the kitchen. They're eating something called a Pop Tart," she over-accentuated the name, "so be a dear and make sure they don't eat too many."  
Missy headed for the door.  
"Missy, wait." Graham spoke up. His voice was confident but he still knew who he was talking to and he carefully compensated around it.  
"You've got t' understand. The Doctor is our friend too and if she's in real danger like you say she is, then we have t' help. Weather you're here or not- we look out for each other. And you've got t' respect that."  
Missy stopped where she stood, hesitating.  
Yaz's words were the final straw.  
"Come on, Missy! What's your problem with us is."  
Missy spun around, her movements sharp and her words in a focused fury.  
"My problem with you?" She asked in a tone as cold as ice, yet somehow with a burning hot rage.  
"My problem with you is that- for /once/- I'm actually trying to change. I'm trying to be /better/ and I'm trying to fix things with The Doctor. I experienced being killed by myself twice because I thought it was better to die than stand with The Doctor and his idiotic, self-destructive plan!"  
"His?" Ryan asked impulsively before thinking better of it.  
"She used to be a white-haired Scotsman." Missy replied flatly.  
"Oh.... okay."  
"Anyways." Missy continued coldly, "We both got in too deep- and maybe together we could have escaped alive- but we didn't. It's a miracle we're not still dead right now! But then I try and try and still mess it up and then suddenly... I find her again and I think just maybe it can be like the good old times together- but she's just so wrapped up in you /humans/!" She spat venomously.  
Tears seemed to threaten her eyes.  
"She'd rather I die than let you get hurt and you know what? I love her so that's exactly what I'm going to do."  
She angrily stepped towards the doors, her chest burning like the sun and her words with more confidence than any leader who's stepped on Earth before her.  
"Watch the kid and do not step out these doors."  
She didn't turn back as she slammed the doors behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked giving Missy some strong motivation in this section. She's an extremely clever and complicated person- and that won't change- but by putting her into a situation that hits so close so home, I was hoping to lessen her defences a little and allow her to her speak from her hearts for once lol  
> Please kudos and feel free to tell me what you think! I'd really appreciate some feedback. I'm never sure what writings I should actually post.  
> Thanks and have a great day!! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missy is the Doctor's last hope at escaping alive and she can't even resort to violence to do it.  
> Being good can be such a drag, but somehow the Doctor makes it a little more bearable....

Admitting the truth hurt Missy more than she could have ever guessed it would. The Doctor's other incarnations all had a strong affinity for humanity, but never before did their words cut so deep. Missy had never before felt such a sting in her hearts and she knew it was because of the same person whose words hurt her now. The Doctor had taught her to feel again and it amplified every emotion until there were no longer words to describe it.  
All Missy knew now was that she was growing tired of playing with The Doctor only to lose them again. Even when Missy's past selves had clearly won an enjoyable tiff, the breaks in between their games were incredably dull in comparison. The Doctor was the only person who was the perfect challange and the only one so fun to toy with. If Missy had to sacrifice a touch of her murderous ways then she just might be willing; but in exchange, she needed something to dull the umbearable agony.  
Trying to change was incredably difficult and hurt like Hell- but she didn't have time to debate that now. Whether The Doctor's reputation as 'criminal' was erased or not- if she was found she would be labeled an intruder and killed within minutes of being found.  
/'That moron.'/ She thought to herself. /'She probably knew this would happen all along. And they say I'm the sadistic one.'/  
Missy looked about the storage room. She could easily exit through the large doors at the far end of the room, but there was something else she could try. She could clearly identify a high-pitched hum of electronics overhead like any human could hear water running through a pipe.  
She pushed some of the crates together and quickly stepped up them to reach ceiling pannel. Finding it was much lighter than it looked, she pushed it open to find a large crawlspace inside of which was a mess of thick wires and units of air filtration that seemed to go on for miles.  
"Hallow storage for lighter air travel. Smart, but also your foolish weakness."  
She grunted with mild effort as she pushed herself up in a sing swift motion and began to navigate through the short overhead clearance.  
It wasn't safe. The entire area was intended only for regular matinence. Wires could be frayed, ceiling pannels could weaken and give out, her path could be blocked, or numerous other problems could arrise at the drop of a hat and trap her between the clostaphobic containment of dust, sharp metal, electrical wires, and the dim light of whatever electronics were nearby. However, she was willing to take every one of those chances if it meant saving her life-long friend.  
She grimaced as she crawled through the grime and grease of the pathway and tried as best she could to be careful as to how much the thin floorboards gave away with each movement.  
"Of all the reasons to lay off the carbs, I didn't think this would be one of them." She to herself joked in annoyance.  
She crawled low to the ground at a carefully calculated yet surprisingly fast pace.  
"Alright. Now if I know my basic spaceship layout...."  
She examined the nearby technology she shared space wifh before deciding to continue forwards and push open a vent ahead of her. She ducked until she was barely an inch above the cold ceiling as the metal cover crashed loudly onto the lift below.  
She nodded to the side and pressed her lips together in thought.  
"Alright about 4 flights down. That's fine."  
She took a deep breath and pulled herself to the edge of the tunnel, joking to herself as she did so.  
"Good thing I chose pants this time around."  
She reached out to a maintenance ladder bolted to the wall directly left of her. She pulled herself out, head first, looking down to the unforgiving drop below.  
Refusing to panic, she slipped her heels under a rung of the latter and then took a deep breath before dropping her legs and flipping herself around so she could stand up.  
She breathed heavily with effort and relief, the small noise echoing in the large chamber.  
She began to climb, looking for a particular exit, when suddenly she heard the electrical hum of the lift moving beneith her.  
"Please go down please go down...."  
She chanted quietly.  
She linked her arms tightly under the railing and risked glancing down once more. Unfortunately, the lift was accelerating her.  
She paused for a moment and pressed her forehead against the ladder. She didn't want to risk the large machine crushing her so she waited patiently for it to close in.  
As is passed by she suddenly let go of the rungs and gracefully stepped off the ladder, onto the top of the lift.  
"Alright, I'll give you one more chance. Not the top floor. Any other is fine." She whispered, her voice amplifying against the walls.  
There were plently of other openings but none she could open and squeeze into while the lift was racing past.  
Instead of attempting to get off, she stood still and crossed her arms, glancing at the ceiling closing in above them before glancing at her watch. She nonchelantly accepted the gamble. If she lost, however; she would be incredably disappointed. She was really enjoying this body.  
Finally, she felt the lift slow as she stared down the top of the room. The ceiling stopped just inches from her face.  
She breathed in the adrenalyn and then turned away to look for an enterance before the lift moved again.  
If it did, she was confident she would have to take an even worse gamble. Sure, going up could have been fatal; but the g-force alone of going down would hurt like Hell and she wasn't really in the mood.  
"You're one to talk!" Missy suddenly heard a very distinct voice exclaim. She smiled devilishly. The words were sharp-tongued to the ear but dripping with confidence. Missy could recognize it anywhere.  
-

After telling Yaz to head back to the Tardis, The Doctor had begun to run and continued to do so for some time. She wished she had a better plan, but all she had right now was the brilliant idea to get the guards as far away from Yaz and her friends as she could. The guards already knew there were intruders on their ship and The Doctor was determined to be the only one they were after.  
"Hey look at me!" She teased as she sprinted full speed down a large corridor.  
"Hault immediately!" Several guards shouted as she bolted past.  
The Doctor only grinned wildly as she continued to sprint as fast as she could and as far away as she could manage.  
She made it several halls before looping back to take a quick breather to check the machine. It was definately working but it was overriding the ship's data a little slower than she had first calculated and there were more guards than she had realized. She had changed the list so that every creature currently hiding, or suspected of hiding, on Earth would be worth nary a credit. If they weren't worth anything, the bounty hunters would have no reason to search Earth for their next payday.  
However, her plan had had some short-term drawbacks and she couldn't risk returning to the Tardis just yet. She was running out of options and needed another plan.  
She began running again but quickly realized she must have taken a wrong turn as she met an abrupt dead end. She made a u-turn but she was running out of breath and the guards were only getting closer.  
The technology she had stolen from Missy was shielding her from the onboard censors, but there was only so much hiding you could do before the sound of her footsteps alone gave her away. And she couldn't exactly stop.  
She suddenly realized a screen embedded in the wall nearby. She had passed several of them before, but this time she realized they could be used to her benefit.  
/"Maybe I can turn the lights off. If they can't use their eye pieces to identify me they can't capture me- and they can't capture what they can't see."/ She considered quietly, forgetting there was no one at her side.  
She pulled out her sonic and tried to get into the system.  
"All I need is an off switch...."  
Suddenly the lights went out.  
/"The backup generators will kick on any minute but at least I can get a head start. Maybe confuse them a bit too."/  
She chuckled to herself as she linked her sonic into the overhead announcement system and turned it into something of a microphone.  
"Hello!" She said through a speaker several hallways away. It faintly echoed back to her.  
She grinned and then picked another speaker even farther away and changed the settings. Her steps were as quiet as possible as she hurried in the opposite direction of where she had thrown her voice.  
"I'm simply here to update your systems." She said cheerfully before her voice grew dark. "There's been some changes to your pricings. Any creature living peacefully on Earth is no longer worth capture or death by your hand. This is not your place to cast judgement."  
"Is that not what you're doing?" A loud voice boomed in reply. "Who are you to judge over us and the people of this planet?"  
"You're one to talk!" The Doctor retorted loudly. She picked another speaker- with the help of her trusty sonic- so it would seem as if she was still running through a different part of the ship.  
She continued more calmly, "No one on Earth is worth capturing and your superiors agree. They'll probably be telling you the same thing soon."  
She lied willingly, no hint of remorse in her voice.  
She wanted to do more, she wanted to stop these murderers for good. But she wouldn't. Not today.  
She was here to stop them from harming anyone else on Earth and that was the extent of her goal. That would have to be enough for now.  
"Then why are you running, intruder!"  
The voice questioned aggresively.  
"Boarding a ship that is the property of the Edict of Emdaber is considered trespassing. Turn yourself in or you will be taken in, dead or alive."  
The Doctor didn't reply as she hurried down the halls with only the small amber glow of her sonic screwdriver to guide her. She usually had a very good sense of direction, but almost every corridor looked the same as the last- not to mention she still had to find a way to the lower floors.  
She could easily build something to find her way back to her Tardis if she only had a little more time.  
"Stop!" One of the bounty hunters demanded loudly.  
The Doctor had nearly run directly into them. The person was a humanoid but had pale red skin and the distinct lense over one eye.  
A couple of the emergency lights turned on and she was out of the safety darkness had given her.  
The Doctor stepped back, trying to think of a way to talk herself out of this one as the uniformed creature drew their weapon. They aimed directly at The Doctor before she could think of anything clever to say.  
"Now listen, I'm sure we can talk about this one." The Doctor began, holding out her hands before her both in an attempt to show she was unarmed and to get the hunter to lower their weapon.  
The gun quickly loaded up with a short electric whirl.  
"As you can see, I'm unarmed and alone-" The Doctor began.  
She was suddenly cut off by the loud sound of a sharp chunk of metal hitting the floor behind the armed guard.  
The guard began to turn around and suddenly the lights went out once more.  
It seemed to only be the closest lights but The Doctor's eyes couldn't adjust fast enough to see what was going on. She dodged out of the way of the gun and kicked sharply at where it had been held in the humanoid's hand before the lights went out.  
Luck finally seemed to be on The Doctor's side as her foot connected with its target and she heard the gun clatter to the floor and slide away, scraping against the cold ground until it hit a nearby wall and stopped.  
The Doctor was ready to run yet again but somehow, through the darkness, her eyes began to adjust and she could identify the unmistakable figure of Missy standing over the now-unconcious body of the guard. Missy seemed to glance at the gun and began to reach for it before catching the eye of The Doctor. Missy met her gaze as she picked up the weapon anyways and then reached for the surprised woman's hand.  
"How did you get here?" The Doctor found herself asking as Missy pulled her past the body and down the larger corridor. The Doctor quickly pulled her hand away again and followed Missy's quick pace. It hadn't been the guard on the ground that had surprised her but the way Missy had saved her so dramatically. She wasn't used to Missy /helping/ her much less saving her. Although The Doctor was certain she would have thought of something eventually.  
/'Maybe Missy was right,'/ The Doctor thought, /'Maybe I do enjoy the occasional touch of drama./  
"Yeah, you're welcome." Missy replied, putting her pin back into place at the front of her shirt. The Doctor noticed. Was that where the metal had fallen from? Had she cut her way out of the ceiling?  
"Most of the area between floors is hallow," Missy explained as if she knew what The Doctor was thinking, "for all the cables and electronics ecetera. I just crawled through the mess and then cut my way out to save you."  
"I'm several floors up." The Doctor stated in near disbelief.  
"Okay, so I scaled the inside of the lift too. Can we get a move on?" Missy rushed her along.  
"Yeah, definately." The Doctor smiled.  
The Doctor quickly grabbed Missy's hand and began to run.  
"Where are the others?"  
"Oh your little human friends? Yeah, they're safe. They're still in the Tardis. I told them to stay put."  
"Told them to stay put?! They never stay put!" The Doctor said loudly in worry and with great annoyance at how unfortunately true it was.  
"Why not?" Missy asked, completly befuddled.  
The Doctor shook her head.  
"I don't know! They just do that!"  
Missy rolled her eyes, "These humans seem like more trouble than they're worth."  
Missy finally lead them back to the nearest lift and they quickly climbed inside. The Doctor highjacked the controls and took them to the floor where she parked the Tardis.  
They both caught their breath as they waited to reach the next floor.  
Missy adjusted the settings on the weapon she had aquired while The Doctor leaned back against the wall, putting her sonic screwdriver back into her inside coat pocket before crossing her arms. Her eyes stayed fixed on Missy.  
She quickly noticed the attention and tossed her head back until it rolled in a complete circle before focusing back on the weapon.  
"I know you don't approve but if you must know- I'm lowering the settings to only render its targets unconcious. I want to make it out /alive/ you know."  
"Okay." The Doctor replied flatly, closing her eyes for a moment.  
For one reason or another, this made Missy absolutely furious. The calmness in The Doctor's voice that Missy was forced to endure paired with the pounding of her own hearts against her chest and ears from everything that was happening was too much for even her to take. This new 'Doctor' was so different and yet so fundamentally the same that it was driving Missy mad- well, madder than she had proudly been before. And if you remember, she was trying not to be mad at all.  
Prehaps the Doctor was too used to this version of her by now. Maybe Missy's tactics were becoming obsolete. Maybe it was something else completely, but whatever it was made her incredably angry.  
She'd done everything The Doctor wanted and to the best of her ability. Yet- The Doctor didn't seem to bat an eye. All she cared about was her little pets Missy had done her best to protect.  
That was the last straw.  
"What the /hell/ is wrong with you?!" Missy shot in the privacy of the small room.  
The Doctor only picked up her head and asked for clearification, "I'm sorry?"  
Missy stepped closer, her breathes heavy as emotions she could barely name swelled up inside her chest. She tried to calm herself and find the words, but she could barely hold anything back.  
"I told you, I'm trying to change. I've done everything you've asked of me and more! I know I screwed up but I was trying to save that kid because I know it's what you would have done! And maybe- maybe because I wished I had been able to save s-someone else." She clutched onto her brooch for a moment before letting go again to gesture her hands freely through the air. Her voice never calmed and her words as over-accentuated as ever.  
"I'm /glad/ I saved that kid. I wouldn't change it. And I /tried/ to get your companions to stay in the Tardis to keep them safe because that's what /I promised you/! I came out here alone to make sure you were safe and so that none of your strays would go looking for you! I'm trying to do everything and I can and it's like- it's like you don't even care!"  
She hated putting it into words. Every second of it felt like knives jamming into her stomach. But when The Doctor spoke, all the pain and rage seemed to subside.  
Maybe it was the quiet agony that seemed to pain her or maybe it was the genuineness of her worry for others. Seeing someone else in pain and seeing someone being wholehearted stirred about the same emotion in Missy, so she couldn't be sure.  
"I'm just worried about the Edict finding the Tardis. What if we get back and they've already found it. I wanted you to leave and keep everyone safe!" The Doctor said, her voice was filled with a rage that directly masked her fear.  
It would be easy for anyone to mistake it as anger, but Missy knew The Doctor far too well to make such an obvious mistake.  
"Everyone includes you!" Missy shouted back even louder. "I was never going to leave without you! Not again."  
"You're just worried that without me you'll get bored." The Doctor said without thinking better of it.  
The elevator doors opened and Missy shot a uniformed hunter without even turning to look. The creature fell to the ground in the background of the argument.  
"You absolute, thick-skulled moron!" Missy shouted, leading the way as they walked down the hall towards the Tardis. "The first time you left Gallifrey /I/ tried to follow /you/! Albeit, I didn't forgive you for that for a long time but it's the reason the two of us survived the Time War! I'm still here because you were my best friend and I missed you, you stupid idiot!"  
Missy shot two more creatures and covered The Doctor as she sonicked open the storage door blocking their path to the Tardis.  
"You didn't have to be a murderer." The Doctor spat.  
"Oh /please/! Life happens okay? I tried to save all our people and you didn't like that either, remember? So just let it go! /And/- the point is that /I'm/ not doing that anymore/! Don't you believe me?!"  
The Doctor opened the storage room door and held it open for Missy before passing through the doorway behind her and locking it again. The guards trying to track them down finally pinpointed their location and began banging on the doors seconds later, but neither The Doctor nor Missy payed it any mind.  
The Doctor unlocked the Tardis door.  
Missy quickly hurried through and leapt up to pilot the Tardis. Within seconds the Tardis was off the ship and moving through the time vortex.  
The three companions hurried over to hug The Doctor. She laughed happily at the welcome as they piled around her.  
Graham cheered, "Look who it is! Welcome back!"  
"We're glad you're safe!" Ryan smiled.  
"Don't ever lie to me- to us- like that ever again!" Yaz's relief quickly turned to anger.  
"I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted you to be safe." The Doctor sighed. "I didn't want you coming back for me."  
Their voices quickly grew quieter and The Doctor realized they were trying not to be heard by Missy who was piloting the Tardis with her head hung low. She didn't even seem interested in evesdropping which was unusual for her. Then again, maybe it was just another act.  
"You know we don't trust Missy all that much..." Yaz began. "But-"  
"Did you really tell her that we're more than her?" Ryan finished innocently.  
"What?" The Doctor asked, taken aback by the question.  
"It just seems a bit harsh, Doc." Graham added. "Granted we don't know much about you two but... she just ran into danger to save you. Maybe you should say something."  
"I-" The Doctor stammered, her thoughts cluttered as she tried explain why she had said what she did,  
"She usually views humans as lesser and... she's always been most interested in self-preservation than helping others and I told her that I didn't want any of you hurt. I just wanted to keep you all safe...."  
As she examined over her words, they did suddenly seemed a tad harsh. By telling Missy to protect the others, The Doctor had really been telling her that she isn't worth as much as her human companions. That she was less than them.  
She never thought of Missy as someone who could be hurt by something like that but... maybe she really was changing. It was foolish for The Doctor not to realize something like that when she was the one trying to help Missy in the first place.  
"Doctor?" Yaz asked quietly.  
"Yes, Yaz?" The Doctor replied, willing to answer anything thrown her way. However, she wasn't quite ready for what Yaz said.  
"Doctor, I think she loves you and doesn't know how to show it."  
The Doctor shook her head in impulse, mind not completely processing the extent of what Yaz was saying.  
"I don't know about /that/. I- I mean she does that sometimes so it might /look/ like-"  
"She told us so." Yaz prodded gently.  
The Doctor's eyes grew wide as she stared up to the console. Missy never noticed The Doctor's stare as she continued to pilot them to safety- incredably smoothly, she might add.  
"Um." The Doctor looked down to the floor. She had so many thoughts processing in her head yet she felt as if her mind had gone completely blank.  
"I mean I've always kind of... admired her- but that was so long ago! And I've never given it a lot of thought and- things are complicated! I mean, we flirt sometimes but just to lighten the mood... mostly- I mean, well that's what I thought it was. Okay... maybe you have a point... -but no wait!"  
The Doctor suddenly pulled herself back out of her own head. She looked to her companions once again,  
"She could be lying again. She could be trying to steal the Tardis- or half a dozen other schemes!"  
Ryan patted her arm.  
"Maybe, but she really seems to care about you, mate. At least go tell her you care about her too."  
The Doctor nodded and then suddenly burst into a wide grin. She pulled them together and hugged them all again.  
"Thanks, fam. In a few minutes it should be safe for you to all go back to your homes. Thank you for trusting me."  
Graham chuckled, "You should know you're going to be stuck with us no matter what!"  
The Doctor smiled brightly as they pulled away.  
"Alright. I'll be right back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There'll probably be one more chapter after this. (Probably?)  
> I've been really busy so hopefully I can stay on track with this lol


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finally tells Missy the truth.

The Doctor walked up to the console and made a few small adjustments in an attempt to help Missy fly the Tardis. Missy didn't look at her.  
"Missy,"  
"You don't have to say anything." Missy hissed, yet through her anger she sounded somewhat defeated.  
The Doctor noticed this but it only made her mor confident in what she was about to say.  
"I want to believe you, Missy," The Doctor said whole heartedly, "I've always wanted to believe you.... I want to believe that you're trying to be better. That alone is more than enough for me. It's just that- everytime you left me, everytime I thought you were dead: I felt so alone. For a while I thought it was because that made me the last of our species and that I was truely, unequivically alone."  
The Doctor took a deep breath, words sincere, "But the truth is that I never really cared for Gallifrey until I thought it might be gone...."  
She paused briefly to collect her thoughts with a simple breath,  
"However... I always did and I know I always will care about you."  
Missy stopped to finally turned to watch her friend's confession, but The Doctor's eyes moved away and stayed focused on lightly fidgeting with the Tardis controls.  
The Doctor's words sped up to a more usually rate for her as she continued with heavy hearts,  
"I have always cared about you but I think maybe neither of us really knew what that meant. Life took us in different directions and everytime we met it felt like we had grown so far appart that we couldn't fix things but... well... I'm tired of all that. I've lived so many lives and done this for so long and I- I just want to move on."  
"That's what I want too." Missy spoke from somewhere deep in her hearts. No charm, no flirt, no confidence, just absolute truth. She continued more boldly,  
"I know it seems too late but I finally realized the error of my ways and I wish you could believe me-"  
"I do." The Doctor cut in.  
The Doctor took Missy's hands from the console and held them in her own, finally looking into her eyes,  
"I do believe you. It's never too late to change and we still have the whole universe out there waiting for us!"  
The Doctor's eyes gleamed cheerfully in the Tardis's amber light. They looked so happy yet so fragile, like The Doctor knew how easily she could be hurt if her trust was being misplaced.  
Missy felt tears threaten her eyes again, but this time they were different. They weren't caused by bittersweet pain or heartache or even the overwhelming mix of emotions that grabbed hold of her hearts every so often. Instead, she felt... the closest thing to happy she'd been in such a long, long time.  
"Missy, you're just as important as everyone else and I love you too-"  
The Doctor was taken by surprise as Missy suddenly kissed her.  
It wasn't anything like when Missy had kissed The Doctor before. That had been completely confusing and terrifying.  
This, however, was something else entirely. It was soft and gentle, the passionate crushing of lips together for less than a second before Missy backed away and let go of the front of The Doctor's coat.  
The Doctor was completely shocked and simply stood there. Her hands fell away from the tops of Missy's hands and she blinked several times before responding.  
"Alright. That... yes." The Doctor nodded once very slowly.  
Missy chuckled. "Don't worry, we can practice that later. Now how about we get that kid home?"  
Missy turned back to piloting the Tardis.  
The Doctor cleared her throat in a poor attempt to shake the blush from her cheeks and refocus herself. She silently went back to piloting the Tardis, still rediculously dazed.  
"Alright, according to the Tardis's scan of their DNA, the kiddo does have family in the Cantinobis system," Missy began to do The Doctor's job for her, "I guess we might as well do a scan on who lives there, assess every bit of knowledge we can find on them, and then determine if-"  
Suddenly, The Doctor grabbed her face and kissed her back, cutting her off mid-sentence. It wasn't nearly as elegant as Missy had been just a moment earlier, but Missy didn't seem to mind as she was nearly swept off her feet.  
The Doctor leaned her back incredably far in a dramatic fashion before pulling her back up seconds later- a different ending of the similar encounter on the rooftop earlier that night.  
"I had to... settle the score." The Doctor tried to say casually, nearly winded.  
"You always were a bit slow." Missy teased, despite being extremely impressed and looking about half a second from passing out in shock.  
The Doctor ran one hand through her light-colored hair in an attempted to fix where Missy had run her hands through it during the kiss. She still felt her hearts racing and her brain had yet to register that this was really happening. To The Doctor, there was nothing quite like Missy's touch and everything else she knew seemed to blur in contrast. It took her quite a long second to get back to reality.  
"But anyways," The Doctor continued, clearing her throat, "Good plan. Um- okay right-o, we have a job to do!"  
Somehow the statement pulled Missy back to the real world as well and she hurried around the console, flipping switches and pulling levers admitantly more smoothly than The Doctor. She worked opposite to The Doctor as they flew the ship together.  
"Everyone brace yourselves!" The Doctor announced cheerfully.  
The Tardis shook as it usually did but instead of being all jolts and shakes, it was more of a smooth- yet still unpredictable- rollarcoaster of motion.  
Yas, Ryan, and Graham wondered if the two Time Ladies were purposefully refusing to fly the ship properly.  
"What are you doing?" Missy questioned, stepping back to rest her hands on her hips, feet doing a vague sort of box step to keep her standing upright as the ground moved in all sorts of unptedictable ways.  
"I think I know how to fly my own Tardis." The Doctor shot back, falling into the same groove their conversations usually fell into.  
"Alright." Missy shrugged before taking action once more.  
The Doctor glared at her before turning a wheel and then looking back. The Doctor knew better than to ask but Missy's amused expression caused her to give in,  
"Alright, what?"  
"It's just- that button isn't even for space travel. It's for a light down the hall." She chuckled.  
"It's a lucky button!" The Doctor defended wholeheartedly.  
Missy snickered but her wide smile was genuine. It made The Doctor stare, lovestruck, as Missy typed some adjustments into the ship's systems. The Doctor couldn't remember the last time she looked so happy or so calm, in any form.  
Missy looked back to The Doctor with a blissful, loving smile,  
"Of course it is, dear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you somehow managed to get through all of this thank you so, so much!! It means so much to me and I really hope you liked it.  
> I apologize for this chapter being so short but I wasn't sure how long this would be.  
> I might write more to this but I feel like this is a good enough ending for now.  
> Thanks :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!  
> There will be a lot more where this came from and I plan to have much more posted in the next week or so!  
> Don't forget to check back for more and PLEASE DON'T BE SHY TO LEAVE KUDOS AND COMMENTS! :)


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